All Chapters of The Ruthless CEO's Obsession : Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

ETHAN It was Friday morning.My mind would not slow down. I had been awake all night, and now I was finishing a ten-mile run with Lamal.Sweat ran down my face and neck. My chest felt tight. My heart was pounding much harder than it should have been after a run.I reached for the bottle of water in Lamal’s hand and took it.“Ethan, what’s going on?”“Sophie and I are over.”Lamal stopped in place.“What are you talking about? She paid 25K for your ass last night.”I took a drink before answering.“Yeah. Maybe she just likes supporting charities because I told her I loved her, and she walked out of my room.”“Shit, man. That sucks.”“Yeah.”“What happened?”I lifted both hands.“I wish I knew. Everything seemed fine. I told her about Nathan. Then she told me something really painful from her past. After that, she started packing her things.”“Damn. That's... Jeez, Ethan.”I laughed bitterly.“She’s convinced that being with me will ruin her career. I can’t change the fact that I’m her

SOPHIE As much as I want to be part of the meetings with Ethan, I understand now why he tried to keep me away from this side of things. Huge biomedical firms have a lot of power. I am not someone who believes every rumor I hear, but I have read enough stories about people who push back against powerful companies and then seem to disappear from public view. Whether all of those stories are true or not, I understand why Ethan is worried.So I agree to stay in his office, listen to the meetings, and only communicate with him through the CloudSync Vault files. That is as involved as I am willing to get.The first meeting is with a company called Cosoner.It lasts around forty-five minutes.From everything I hear, the meeting goes well. They seem interested in the possibility of selling. Ethan handles the conversation carefully. He talks about all parts of their business and only briefly touches on the insulin side of things.Every so often, I type a note or a question into the shared

SOPHIE I storm out of the elevator and into the lobby just as my phone starts ringing. My emotions are all over the place, and I assume it's Ethan calling again. Without checking the caller ID, I answer and snap, “Just leave it!”“Whoa! What am I leaving?” Maya asks.I immediately freeze.“Shit.” I drop onto the couch and rub my forehead. “I’m sorry, Maya.”“Sophie, what’s going on?”The concern in her voice breaks whatever control I have left. Tears fill my eyes.“Sophie?”“I don’t even know where to start.”“Where are you?”“In the lobby at work.”“You’re back in Seattle already?”“No. I’m at the Boston office.”“Okay. Tell me what happened.”I sniffle and wipe my eyes.“Sophie?”“Ethan came into the office, and we got into an argument.”“Into it, as in hot office sex?”I let out a weak laugh.“Almost. But he stopped me and said if I wasn't willing to commit to him, then he wasn't sleeping with me.”“Oh.”“Last night I told him I can't have kids, and he told me he loves me. Then I