Chapter. 05

{Third person's pov}

Evan didn’t slow down as he walked. Natasha followed, her steps quieter against the polished floor, her awareness sharper than before. His hand brushed briefly against her back as they entered the elevator, light, controlled.

“Stay close,” he said as the doors closed. Silence pressed in.

The elevator opened to a floor she hadn’t seen before.

Dim. Isolated. Still. She has been in this building so many times and yet there was space she has never been too.

Evan stepped out first, Natasha followed, her gaze flickering across the empty corridor.

At the end, a door stood slightly open. Evan pushed it open without hesitation.

He stopped, Just for a second, He wasn't expecting this, he wasn't expecting him after three years.

Inside, Ethan Ramos sat at the far end of the room, posture relaxed, like he had always been there.

Not waiting.

Just… present, Evan’s expression shifted, quick, contained.

“You’re here?” Evan asked, Not anger, Just surprise.

Ethan didn’t move. “I had to be,” he replied.

Evan stepped in fully now, control returning to his posture. “I wasn’t informed.”

“You were,” Ethan said. “Not like this.” Evan replied.

“You weren’t listening.” Natasha stepped in quietly behind Evan, stopping where she always did, just outside the center, just within his space.

Evan’s jaw tightened faintly. “You don’t show up unannounced in my business.”

Ethan leaned back slightly. “Your business?”

Evan didn’t react immediately. “It is... Now." Ethan held his gaze. “No,” he said calmly. “It isn’t.”

“You’re misusing the funds,” Ethan continued.

“They were allocated.” Evan replied, “They were wasted.” The words landed clean.

Evan stepped closer, his voice lower. “You don’t interfere like this.”

“I correct when necessary.” Ethan said.

“You don’t get to correct me.” Evan replied.

“I built what you’re sitting on,” Ethan said, Still calm.

“You’re in that position because I put you there.”

The room went still.

Evan’s gaze flickered, just briefly. Not to Ethan. To Natasha. For the first time, there was something else there.

Awareness of what she had just heard, His jaw tightened. “You should go,” he said to her, without looking fully at her. “I’ll come later.”

The words were quick. Natasha stilled slightly, the shift abrupt. She nodded faintly, turning toward the door.

“Stay.” Ethan’s voice cut through the movement. "You can stay." Not loud.

Natasha paused, Her hand barely moved from her side.

Evan turned then, his expression tightening. “This doesn’t concern her.”

Ethan’s gaze didn’t shift. “It does,” he said.

A beat. “She’s already here.”

Evan looked at Natasha again, this time longer, Then back at Ethan.

For a moment, it felt like he might argue. He didn’t.

“Fine,” he said.

Natasha stayed where she was, Evan straightened slightly, pulling his composure back into place. “Then say what you came to say.”

Ethan didn’t rush. “Fix it,” he said.

Evan didn’t respond immediately. Didn’t challenge it.

And that, that said enough.

No one spoke after that. Not for a moment. Not until Evan turned, the tension pulled tight beneath his calm.

“Let’s go.”This time, his voice didn’t carry the same weight. Natasha moved, stepping toward the door.

But just before she crossed it, she looked back.

Ethan was already watching her.

Like nothing in the room had surprised him. Like this had always been how it would go.

Their eyes held for a second, long enough to register.

Then she turned, And walked out.

The hallway felt colder, Quieter, Evan walked ahead, his pace sharper now, something restrained beneath it.

Natasha followed.

But the silence between them wasn’t the same as before, Because now she knew. Not everything belonged to him.

Not the power.

Not the control.

"Does it belong to him?” Her voice broke the silence.

Evan didn’t move. “Does what belong to him?” he asked.

“The company,” she said. “All of it, Does it belong to your brother?” Evan turned his head then.

His eyes met hers, not calm this time. Not composed.

Sharp. “Why are you asking that?”

Natasha held his gaze. “Because he said he built it.”

Evan’s jaw tightened, something colder settling in his expression. “You’re reading too much into it.”

“Am I?” The word slipped out before she could stop it.

Evan stepped closer, the small space of the elevator suddenly feeling even smaller.

“Don’t question things you don’t understand,” he said.

Natasha felt it, the shift, the familiar pressure pressing in again. The same tone. Last night.

“You can decide everything for me,” she said quietly, “but I can’t ask you a question?”

Evan’s expression hardened. “This isn’t about you.”

“It is,” she said. The words surprised even her.

The silence that followed was heavier now.

Evan stared at her for a long moment, like he was recalculating something. “You’re crossing a line,” he said.

Natasha let out a slow breath.

And suddenly, it clicked. The way he had pulled her close, told her she was perfect, made everything feel calm again. And now, this.

“You were sorry yesterday,” she said. Evan’s expression flickered, just for a second. “I said I was frustrated.”

“And now?” she asked and He didn’t answer.

Natasha looked away first this time, not out of submission, but out of clarity. Evan stepped out without waiting.

she wasn’t just reacting to him.

She was seeing him.