Chapter 2

The air inside Ethan Dawson’s office felt suffocating it was too quite. Even the noise of the city outside seemed distant behind the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

My hand trembled around the file I was holding. I gripped it tightly, as though the papers inside could somehow keep me steady. My heart was beating so hard that I could feel my pulse against my throat.

Ethan hadn’t moved for several seconds.

His back was still facing me, his broad shoulders tense beneath his perfectly fitted suit. The silence between us felt unbearable. It buzzed in the air like static, and I could almost feel the weight of his thoughts pressing down on me.

Then, finally, he spoke.

His voice was low, calm, and somehow more frightening because of it.

“You’re trembling, Miss Ramirez.”

I swallowed. “I’m not.”

“You are.”

He turned around slowly, his eyes immediately finding mine.

There was something unsettling about the way he looked at me, as if he could see straight through every lie I had carefully built.

“Why?” he asked. “Is it because of me… or because you have something to hide?”

My fingers tightened around the folder.

“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”

He took one slow step toward me.

The sound of his shoes against the marble floor echoed through the office, each step making my heartbeat faster.

“Don’t lie to me, Katya.”

The way he said my name sent a shiver through me. His voice was soft, but there was an unmistakable warning beneath it.

My knees felt weak, but I forced myself to remain standing.

“I don’t appreciate dishonesty,” he continued, his eyes narrowing. “Especially from someone who works for me.”

“I’m not lying, Mr. Dawson,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’m only doing my job.”

“Your job?”

A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

“And what exactly does your job involve? Avoiding me? Pretending that night never happened?”

My breath caught.

For a moment, everything around me seemed to disappear.

He remembers.

“Mr. Dawson—”

“Ethan.”

His voice cut through mine.

“You called me that once.”

I couldn't answer.

The memory came rushing back without warning.

That night that we shared where the smell of whiskey lingering in the air.

The way everything had happened so quickly that I hadn't known how to stop it.

“Tell me, Katya,” he said, his voice quieter now. “Why did you leave after that night?”

He stared at me.

“You left like what happened between us was nothing”

I wanted to tell him the truth.

I wanted to tell him that it had been a mistake. That I hadn't even known who he was. That I never intended for any of it to happen.

But I couldn't.

Because the truth was simple.

I left out of guilt.

I ran because I was supposed to marry Marco.

I had already chosen my future, and whatever had happened between Ethan and me was never supposed to exist.

It was a mistake.

One I desperately wanted to forget.

But a month later, everything changed.

I still remembered sitting alone, staring at those two pink lines on the pregnancy test.

Two tiny lines that destroyed every lie I had been telling myself.

I was pregnant.

And suddenly, facing the man I had slept with became impossible.

How could I face him?

And worse, I knew what I had done ruined my relationship with Marco.

I had cheated on the man I was supposed to marry.

The guilt had been eating me alive ever since.

I forced myself to look at Ethan.

“There was nothing to say,” I whispered. “It was a mistake. And it's over Sir. beside sleeping with a man is nothing nowadays” I said trying to be brave

“Over?”

His jaw tightened.

“It was your first time, and you talk about it as if it meant nothing.”

My chest tightened.

“You really think one night can just be erased that easily?”

“Please,” I whispered. “I don't want to talk about it. Just don't think about it anymore I am already engaged” I lied I know Marco and I are impossible.

For a moment, something changed in his eyes.

it's as if I said something that made him mad

Only for a second then it was replaced by the same cold expression.

He turned away from me and walked toward the window. His reflection appeared against the glass, surrounded by the lights of the city below.

“You're right,” he said quietly. “It's over.”

He paused.

“But I don't forget, Katya.”

His reflection stared back at me through the glass.

“I never forget.”

Something about the way he said those words made my blood run cold.

There was no anger in his voice.

No shouting.

Just a calm certainty that somehow felt more dangerous than either.

I had heard the stories about Ethan Dawson.

He wasn't just powerful.

He was ruthless.

He didn't forgive easily. He didn't let people walk away after crossing him. And if someone made the mistake of becoming his enemy, they eventually paid the price.

Standing inside his office, I finally understood why people were afraid of him.

The rumors weren't exaggerated.

They were warnings.

Ethan turned back toward me, his expression impossible to read.

“You may go.”

I let out a shaky breath.

I tightened my grip on the folder and hurried toward the door, desperate to get away from him.

My hand had barely reached the handle when his voice stopped me.

“Katya.”

I froze.

Slowly, I turned around.

His eyes were fixed on me.

“The moment I mark you, you are already mine.”

My stomach twisted.

”So the wedding you mentioned was not gonna happen. Break your engagement with him”

His voice dropped.

“Just do as I say”

He paused.

His gaze became colder.

“You will be mine soon”

A beat of silence passed.

“No one can stop me”

My throat went dry.

I couldn't find the courage to answer, so I simply nodded.

Then I walked out.

The door closed behind me with a quiet click.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, my knees nearly gave out.

I leaned against the wall and took a shaky breath, pressing a hand against my chest as my heart continued to pound.

For the first time, the stories I'd heard about Ethan Dawson didn't feel like rumors anymore.

They felt real.

And I knew with terrifying certainty that if he ever discovered the truth about my baby, he wouldn't just destroy my life.

He would take everything from me.

Even my child.