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CHAPTER FOUR
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2025-03-12 05:39:40BENEATH THE FACADE
Behind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secrets awaits. CHAPTER 4 Emily's POV: As he stood by the door, his hands holding the tray suddenly lost their grip. The plates crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces. The sound of broken ceramics filled the air, echoing off the walls of my room. “Emily, did you say something?,” My father asked as he approached me, ignoring the broken plates. “Father, I said I won't be marrying Billionaire Ethan Kingston” I repeated loud and clear this time around. “Emily, you would do no such thing”, he said, his tone rising, laced with a mix of anger, shock and desperation. His eyes widened with alarm “All my life, Emily, all, did I give up for you”, he continued, backing me now. “I gave up my dreams, my goal, everything” My anger had been simmering, waiting to boil over I didn't wait to hear the last of it before giving him a reply. “You did everything you ever did for yourself, not for me in particular,” I shouted angrily before breaking down into tears. “Don't make this about me. Don't drag me into your mess, fix it!” I retorted. “Emilyyy!” he screamed as he raised his hands to hit me but was suddenly restrained, and took a step backward. The air seemed to vibrate with tension as he echoed the words, “Emily watch it”, he continued, wading his index finger at me “What did I ever ask for in return?” “Nothing, and now I ask one simple task of you, to marry Billionaire Ethan Kingston, for your own good, and you refuse” he continued screaming at the top of his voice. He made for the door now. I expected him to leave the room but instead he bent to the floor, picked up a piece of the broken plate and began inflicting injury on himself. He had hurt me but I couldn't watch him hurt himself, so I got up immediately to stop him. “Father, enough, it's enough” I said, struggling to collect the piece from his hand. In the process, I cut myself too and we were both bleeding now. “Emily, it's just for the love I have for you. I can't watch you continue suffering. You deserve better” “And how sure are you he'd treat me any better?”, the tears I had fought hard to resist, now came rushing like a torrent. “Father, I'd do it”, I said “Thank you Emily, it's for the best” he said but I cut him “Don't thank me yet, I'd do it on one condition” I said, rising up, as the cloth I used to stop the blood was now soaked. “What condition, Emily?” He asked, his eyes locked unto mine, his expression unreadable. The room fell silent , the only sound, the soft hum of the air conditioner “The deal” my voice firm and resolute As he heard the deal, he stood up, now very much interested. “What about the deal?”
Pinakabagong kabanata
Beneath the Façade Chapter 33
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 33EMILY’S POV: The world didn’t stop when Ethan disappeared. The sun still rose. People still laughed somewhere. The birds outside my window still sang like nothing had shattered.But I had.I didn’t eat. I barely slept. The simple act of breathing felt like dragging a heavy stone across my chest.Everyone kept saying things like “maybe there was an emergency” or “he’ll call soon.” They didn’t see what I saw in my father’s eyes when he came back from that call. They didn’t hear the way his voice stayed too calm, like he’d planned the silence all along.I sat on my bedroom floor, arms wrapped around my knees, phone in hand, scrolling through old messages. His voice notes. The last photo he sent—him standing in front of a tailor’s mirror, adjusting his shirt, grinning like he was trying too hard not to look nervous.I stared at it until my vision blurred.He should’ve been here by now. Should’ve w
Beneath the Façade Chapter 32
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 32 ETHAN'S POV: We hadn’t been on the road long—maybe ten minutes at most. The sky outside had begun its slow shift from a soft, sleepy gold into that deep evening blue that always made the city look like a promise. I watched the lights flicker to life one by one, blurring a little through the window. My father was steady behind the wheel, one hand relaxed on the steering, the other tapping gently to some old song that played low through the speakers. He always brought that playlist out on days that meant something. Birthdays. Big meetings. Today.My mother sat beside him, fingers smoothing over the same part of her sleeve again and again, like the fabric would sit differently if she just kept trying. Her eyes were on the road, but I could tell—she was somewhere else, maybe already picturing the evening, maybe worrying about nothing and everything all at once.In the backseat, I kept quiet. I wa
Beneath the Façade chapter 31
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 31 ETHAN'S POV: The morning of the introduction didn’t come with a bang. No rush of excitement, no grand feeling. Just stillness.I woke up to the soft hum of morning—birds chirping somewhere beyond the window, sunlight crawling slowly across the floor, and the quiet breath of the wind tugging at the curtain like it had all the time in the world.But I didn’t.I sat at the edge of the bed, feet planted on the cold tiled floor, elbows resting on my knees. My hands hung loosely, fingers twitching every now and then like they were unsure what to do. I kept staring out that window like the answers I needed would be hiding in the sky.A dog barked in the distance. Somewhere, a hose came on. Water hit grass. A car drove by. The world outside moved like it always did, as if this was just another morning. But for me, everything had shifted.Today wasn’t just any day.Today, I’d face the man whose daught
Beneath the Façade Chapter 30
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 30 Caleb's POV: I used to think I’d recognize the exact moment my daughter stopped being my little girl. Thought I’d feel it coming, like a shift in the wind or a light that flickered just before going out. I imagined it would be in the way she spoke, maybe in the way she said my name, or the questions she stopped asking. I thought there would be signs, loud or quiet, that would let me prepare for the day she stepped into a new chapter of her life without needing me to guide her every step.But nothing prepared me for it. No warning. No clue.It didn’t come with a speech or some dramatic goodbye. It came with a simple glance. A glow in her eyes. A small ring on her finger. And just like that, the truth hit me.She wasn’t mine to keep anymore.Not in the way she had been when she was five and needed help tying her shoes. Not in the way she had been at twelve when I waited in the rain outside her
Beneath the Façade chapter 29
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 29 Emily's POV: Earlier that morning, Ethan’s voice had wrapped around me like a secret too beautiful to keep.“Be ready by sunset,” he’d said, his tone soft, laced with something that felt like mischief and meaning. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”He hadn’t told me more than that. No hints. No clues. Just that quiet certainty in his voice that always made me feel like the world was tilting toward something good. And now, as the sky began to turn gold outside the window, my heart beat a little faster.He'd asked me specifically to wear the black gown. The gown. The one I wore on our very first date. The one with the delicate lace sleeves and the subtle shimmer at the hem that caught the light when I walked. I hadn’t worn it since that night, but I hadn’t forgotten how he looked at me when I did. Like I was a story he hadn’t read yet but couldn’t wait to.As I slipped it over my shoulders, I felt
Beneath the Façade Chapter 28
BENEATH THE FACADEBehind the façade of wealth and power, a web of secret awaitsChapter 28 Ethan's POV: I stood barefoot on the cool wooden floor of the beachside suite, the salt-heavy wind slipping in through the open balcony door. Below, the waves rolled in and broke softly against the shore—steady, unhurried, like they’d been doing this forever. It was the kind of sound that usually made me feel calm. Not tonight.The room was still. No voices, no music—just the low hum of the ceiling fan overhead and the heavy rhythm of my own breathing. My chest felt tight, like something was pressing down from the inside.I walked toward the window, drawn by the sea like it might have answers. The horizon was pale gold where the sun had started to dip, and the sky above it stretched wide and silent. I watched the tide move in slow, deliberate strokes, like it had something important to say but didn’t know how to say it.I looked down at my hand. The small velvet box lay open in my palm.The r
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