Chapter 3 - The Garden Ultimatum
Before Ethan could say another word, heavy footsteps echoed on the marble flooring near the end of the corridor. This time, there was no escaping. Noah Moretti appeared around the corner, still wearing his immaculate black tuxedo, white shirt, and silk bowtie, though his jacket was unbuttoned and his collar was slightly askew. The youthful arrogance that usually defined his face had been replaced by a pale, hollow shock.
Noah stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us standing together—his father, the formidable head of the family, and the woman who had shattered his public proposal less than ten minutes ago.
"Dad?" Noah's voice sounded thin, stripped of its usual bravado. His eyes darted from Ethan's tense posture to my flushed face and the crystal earrings catching the dim wall light. "What are you doing with her?"
Ethan didn't flinch. He slipped the silver fountain pen smoothly into his suit jacket pocket before turning to face his son with practiced composure. "Your fiancée—former fiancée—was explaining the reasons behind her decision, Noah. I wanted to hear it directly."
Noah let out a harsh, humorless laugh, running a hand through his dark hair. "She humiliated me in front of five hundred people, and you're interviewing her in a service hallway? Have you lost your mind?"
"Watch your tone," Ethan warned, his voice dropping into a register that commanded absolute obedience.
I stepped forward, putting myself between them before the tension could erupt into physical violence. "Noah, please. Your father didn't do anything wrong. It was my choice. You and I—we wanted different things. You wanted a trophy on your arm for your father's approval, and I couldn't give you a lifetime built on silence."
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Noah stared at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears of humiliation and fury. "Dad approved of you. He practically set us up. So don't feed me some speech about independence, Olivia. There's something else going on here. I can see it in the way you two are looking at each other."
Without waiting for an answer, Noah spun on his heel and stormed back toward the ballroom doors, the heavy mahogany swinging shut behind him with a dull thud that reverberated through the floorboards.
