Shadows from the Past

The hum of the office usually provided a nice white noise in the background; today, though, it sounded heavy. Emily rested against the side of her desk, looked out the window, and gazed at the city traffic rushing below. There was still mist, not fully dissipated this early morning; stillness also clung in the air like a bad omen, reminiscent of the knots of unease inside her. She could not think about anything, it seemed but Ethan-the last few days she could not find a reason of how he seemed distant, almost like there's something he just doesn't feel to share.

The door had swung open again. She sat there, automatically flashing a greeting as he pushed inside. And the man Ethan was once foreign but slowly an individual who gradually becomes the centerpiece of her.

He looked tired, his jaw clenched as he let his jacket fall over the back of a chair. There was a shadow in his eyes that she couldn't quite place, but something about his posture—a subtle tenseness in his shoulders—set her on edge.

"You okay?" she asked, pushing her doubts aside as she stood.

Ethan locked eyes with her but didn't speak for a moment, his brow furrowing as if carefully weighing each word. "I need to talk to you about something," he said, his voice annoyingly flat. "I did not want to bring it up now, but I think it's time."

Emily's heart skipped a beat. She had a sinking feeling this was not going to be easy.

The door of the office was flung open with a loud bang. He entered, tall and broad-shouldered, with military bearing that instantly ran a chill through the room. His eyes were sharp and movements precise, as if the man was used to being in control.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," the man said in a rough voice, almost as though he'd been shouting. "Ethan, we need to talk."

Ethan's jaw set as his eyes narrowed, recognizing the man as he stepped forward. Emily froze, watching as Ethan's expression seemed to widen in confusion and growing desperation.

"Tyler," Ethan said, voice firm. "What brings you here?"

Tyler, a name that sent a small shiver up Emily's spine for some unknown reason, nodded curtly. "Needed to settle some old business. Mind if I sit?"

He did not answer her. Instead, he glanced over at Emily and for the first time since she had known him, she saw a flicker of something that looked almost like fear in his eyes.

Emily's heart began to pound in her chest. Something about this man, Tyler, made her uneasy. And the way Ethan was reacting-it didn't sit right. She forced herself to speak, her voice steady despite the unease creeping up her spine.

"Who is this?" she asked.

Ethan took a deep breath before answering. "Tyler and I. we go way back. We served together."

Emily's brow furrowed, but she nodded, not wanting to press further. There was something in the air, a palpable tension, but she wasn't sure what it meant yet.

Tyler settled into a chair across from Emily, his gaze flicking briefly to her before focusing back on Ethan. "It's about the past, Ethan. The stuff you've been running from."

Emily felt the air in the room shift, as if the ground beneath her had shifted slightly, leaving her standing on unstable footing.

Ethan's voice dropped, his words tight with barely contained emotion. "I told you, Tyler, that's behind me. I left that life a long time ago."

Tyler's lips curled up into something between a smirk and a grimace. "You think it's just going to disappear? You've been hiding it, but it's coming back. People don't forget."

Emily's mind was racing as she tried to put together all the pieces of conversation. Something about Ethan's past was far darker than he had let anyone know. She could feel it, the weight of the words hanging in the air like a storm cloud waiting to burst open.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked her, her voice sharp, demanding answers.

Tyler looked at her, his eyes appraising, almost adding up. "You don't know, do you?" he asked with a twisted kind of amusement. "The things Ethan did back in the day. The choices he made."

Ethan's hand shot out and gripped the edge of the desk as if trying to hold onto his control. "I told you, I left all of that behind. It doesn't concern her."

Emily felt a knot tighten in her stomach. "What did you do, Ethan?" Her voice trembled, the question more urgent now, a need for truth pressing on her chest.

Tyler's lips curled into a cold smile, and his voice dropped into a low, almost pitying tone. "Ethan wasn't just some soldier, sweetheart. He was special forces. A killer. And I'm sure you've heard of the operation in Valoria, haven't you? The one that went wrong?" He glanced back at Ethan, eyes glinting with something darker, something vengeful. "Well, Ethan was at the center of that. A few good men died because of his orders."

The floor came alive beneath her. Emily felt it. The words landed on her like a punch, taken in the middle of her breath. Ethan had never said anything like that to her. He'd talked vaguely of his past, of his military experience, but nothing concrete, nothing ever that might prepare her for this.

"Ethan, is that true?" she breathed, barely able to form the words.

Ethan's face set in a hard line and his fists clenched at his sides. "I did what I had to do," he said, low and deadly. "You don't understand—"

"I don't understand?" Emily interrupted, her voice shaking with incredulity. "You never told me this. You never told me you were involved in something like that."

Tyler watched the exchange with a removed look, as if he almost enjoyed the mess he had made. "It's all coming to light, Ethan. The people you thought you could outrun—they're still out there."

Emily stepped back, her heart thumping in her chest. She never thought that Ethan was this kind of guy. The man she had come to trust and love was hiding something about himself that she did not know. How could she ever trust him now?

Ethan's face softened, guilt flashing across it. "Emily, please. It's not what you think. I made choices that. I'm not proud of. But I did them to protect people, to save lives."

"Save lives?" Emily repeated, her voice barely audible. "You killed people, Ethan."

His face tightened and for a moment, he was going to say something more, but he shook his head instead, his eyes filled with regret. "I can't change the past, but I have done everything in my power to make up for it."

A chill began settling in her chest as the weight of the discovery smothered her. Emily had never bothered to ask Ethan about his past because she did not want to know. Now, however, facing the truth, she couldn't pretend that it didn't matter.

"Do you think I can just let this slide?" she asked him, her voice trembling with both hurt and anger.

He didn't respond right away, his eyes veiled with pain. "No. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I am asking you to trust me. I'm not that man anymore."

Tyler snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You really think she'll believe that, Ethan? You think you've changed?"

She felt the walls pressing in on her, the room shrinking with every word that fell from Tyler's lips. She pulled away from both men, an attempt to try to stabilize herself. She needed space. She needed time to process everything that had just been hurled at her.

"I don't know what to believe," she said, her voice cracking. "I don't know who you are anymore."

Ethan's breath hitched. He reached out, but Emily took a step back, shaking her head. "I need time, Ethan. Please."

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Tyler, sensing the tension, stood up. "I think I've said enough for today," he said, his voice smug. "You two can work this out. But just remember—some things can't be left behind. They always catch up with you."

With that, he turned and walked out, leaving Emily and Ethan alone in the silence that followed.

Ethan stood motionless, his eyes never leaving her. "Emily. I never wanted you to know about this. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "Why keep this from me?"

"Because I was afraid you'd leave," he admitted, his voice raw with emotion. "Afraid you wouldn't look at me the same way."

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes as she felt the weight of his words. Her heart was breaking—broken not by the revelations themselves, but by the fact that Ethan hadn't trusted her enough to share his past. She didn't know if she could forgive him or if she could ever look at him in the same light again.

But one thing was sure: nothing would ever be the same again.