Chapter 175: I have to go
"Ethan, who was it?" Valerie asked, her voice laced with concern.
He didn’t answer.
"I need to go," he muttered, almost to himself.
Valerie stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Ethan, who was it? Is everything okay?"
"Yes. Everything’s fine." The lie tasted bitter on his tongue. "I’ll make this call in my study."
The phone was still in his hand, warm from the call. He wasn’t even sure if the caller was still on the line. Maybe they’d hung up. Maybe they were still listening. Either way, he needed privacy. Space. Somewhere to think. Somewhere to feel.
He walked briskly to his office, shutting the door behind him with the weight of a man about to discuss matters of national security. The click of the latch echoed through the silence.
His heart thudded.
He stared at the phone in his hand, thumb hovering over the screen. A part of him wanted to block the number, to erase it and every memory tied to it. He wanted to scream, "Leave me alone. You’re the biggest mistake of my life."
But he didn’t.
Because something in her voice, fragile, haunted, familiar, had cut through his resolve like a blade through silk.