CHAPTER FIVE: The Collapse

Sienna's POV

“Morning.”

Ethan’s voice was flat and cold as I walked into the kitchen. He was already dressed in a dark hoodie and sweats, staring down at his phone while nursing a cup of black coffee. He didn’t even glance up when I entered.

“Morning,” I replied awkwardly, hovering near the island. “I made some toast. Want some?”

“No.”

The silence stretched painfully.

“So… how did you sleep?” I tried again.

“Fine.”

I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat across from him. “This is weird, right? Us living together like this?”

Ethan finally looked up, expression completely closed off. “It’s temporary. Don’t make it more than it is.”

Before I could respond, Lily’s voice echoed down the hallway.

“Noooo! I don’t want the nanny to do my hair! Daddy, you do it!”

Ethan sighed and stood up without another word. “I’ve got it.”

Ten minutes later, I found Lily sitting on her bed in tears while Ethan struggled with the brush. I stepped in gently.

“Hey, sweetie. Can I try? I used to braid my mom’s hair all the time.”

Lily sniffled but nodded. Twenty minutes later, she was fully dressed, hair in neat braids, and I handed her a plate of scrambled eggs and fruit.

Ethan stood in the doorway, watching with a cold, unreadable expression. “You did all that.”

It wasn’t a question. Just a flat observation.

I shrugged. “It’s not rocket science. She just needed someone patient.”

He didn’t reply. He simply turned and walked away.

The tension between us was thick as we drove Lily to school. Ethan kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift. I sat in the passenger seat trying to make small talk for Lily’s sake.

“So, Lily, what are you learning about in school this week?” I asked, turning around to smile at her.

“Dinosaurs! We’re doing a project on them. I want to be a T-Rex.”

Ethan’s lips twitched — almost a smile — but it vanished quickly. “You’d make a good one.”

Lily giggled. “Will you come to my school play next month, Sienna? Daddy always comes, but he sits in the back and looks serious.”

I glanced at Ethan. “If your dad says it’s okay, I’d love to.”

He didn’t respond.

At the school gates, Ethan’s entire expression softened for a brief moment as he watched Lily walk through with her little backpack. He even gave her a small wave when she turned around. But the second she disappeared inside, the cold mask slammed back into place.

The silence on the drive back to the penthouse was suffocating.

“You don’t have to be so cold to me all the time,” I said quietly. “I’m trying here.”

Ethan’s grip tightened on the wheel. “This isn’t about being friends. It’s an agreement. Nothing more.”

“Right,” I muttered, looking out the window. “Nothing more.”

---

The season opener event that evening was pure chaos.

The arena buzzed with excitement. Management, coaches, and sponsors filled the private lounge while reporters crowded outside. Ethan leaned in close as we stepped out of the car, his hand resting lightly on my lower back — purely for show.

“Stay close,” he said curtly. “Let me handle the attention. Don’t speak unless necessary.”

But the moment we walked in, I couldn’t help myself. I smiled, introduced myself, asked questions about the team, and laughed at the coaches’ jokes. Within thirty minutes, I had most of the room charmed. Even the gruff head coach told Ethan he’d “picked a good one.”

Ethan remained reserved the entire time, answering questions with short, professional replies and keeping his arm around me only when cameras were nearby.

Throughout the night, though, I noticed something no one else seemed to see.

Ethan kept shifting his weight. Occasionally he’d lose a bit of color in his face before carefully smoothing his expression again. There were tiny flashes of pain in his eyes that disappeared almost immediately. He was struggling, but trying very hard not to let anyone notice.

I touched his arm lightly during a quiet moment. “Hey… you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said curtly, pulling away.

“You don’t look fine. You’ve been favoring your left side all night.”

He gave me a cold look. “Drop it, Sienna.”

The sponsorship deal was eventually confirmed amid applause and handshakes. We left the arena together with cameras flashing around us. For the first time all day, Ethan seemed almost relaxed, his shoulders loosening slightly as we stepped outside.

Then his step faltered.

“Ethan?” I said, reaching for him.

He collapsed onto the pavement.

Time slowed down in a sickening rush.

One second he was walking beside me, the next his powerful frame crumpled like a broken doll. The sound of his body hitting the concrete echoed in my ears like a gunshot.

“Ethan!” I screamed, dropping to my knees so fast the rough pavement tore through my dress and skin but I didn’t feel it. All I could see was him — pale and unresponsive, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven gasps. “Ethan, oh my God! Talk to me! What’s wrong? Ethan, please wake up!”

I pressed both hands to his chest, feeling the terrifyingly irregular beat beneath my palms. His skin was clammy and far too cold. Tears streamed down my face in hot, uncontrollable rivers as pure terror flooded every inch of my body. My mind raced with a thousand horrible possibilities — heart attack, injury from a game, something worse.

“Somebody call an ambulance!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice sounding raw and desperate as I looked up at the frozen crowd of onlookers. “He’s collapsing! He’s not responding! Call 911 right now! Hurry! Please, someone help him!”

Cameras kept firing around us, flashes blinding me as I held onto Ethan’s hand, terrified I was losing him. The world narrowed to just his face — the sharp lines of his jaw, the dark lashes against too-pale skin, the way his fingers had gone limp in mine.

“Stay with me,” I sobbed, leaning over him, my forehead nearly touching his. “Please, Ethan… just stay with me. Don’t you dare leave me here alone with all of this! Ethan!”

The sirens wailed in the distance, but they felt impossibly far away. I rocked slightly, holding his hand tighter, whispering frantic pleas into the chaos as the flashing lights blurred with my tears.

I had no idea what was wrong with him, but one thing was suddenly very clear — I was about to lose him before it even began.