Five Minutes of Truth

Ethan stepped into her apartment like it was haunted — and maybe it was. Not by ghosts, but by everything they had buried and left unsaid.

Lara didn't offer him a seat. Didn't offer tea.

This wasn't a reunion. It was a trial.

"Speak," she said, arms crossed, spine straight. "Clock's ticking."

Ethan hesitated, his fingers flexing at his sides.

"You think I destroyed you," he said quietly.

She let out a short laugh. "No, Ethan. I know you did."

"I didn't mean for things to go that far."

"Didn't mean to bankrupt me? To leak false reports to the media? To let me take the fall while you built an empire with my silence?"

He flinched. Just slightly. But it was enough.

Lara stepped closer, her voice cold.

"Tell me — when you held my hand at our wedding, were you already planning your exit? Or did the lies come after the honeymoon?"

"I was protecting the company."

"No," she said, eyes blazing. "You were protecting yourself."

Silence fell between them, heavy and sharp.

Then, Ethan finally spoke — and what he said made Lara's breath freeze.

"There's someone else involved. Someone more dangerous than you realize."

Lara's brows furrowed.

"Someone else? Don't start deflecting, Ethan. I've seen the documents. The shell companies. The transfers. It all points to you."

Ethan sat down slowly, rubbing his temples like the weight of years had finally cracked something inside him.

"You think I wanted this?" he muttered. "You think I could've done it alone?"

She didn't move. Didn't blink. She wasn't here for a sob story.

"I didn't touch the charity money," he said. "That was... Yu Holdings. And behind them is someone who doesn't forgive mistakes."

Lara's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

Ethan hesitated. His silence said more than words.

She pressed again, stepping closer.

"Who, Ethan?"

"Your father."

The room went still.

Lara felt as if the floor had dropped beneath her.

"…What did you just say?"

"Daniel White," Ethan said, his voice barely above a whisper. "He's the one who created Yu Holdings. I just followed his orders."

Lara staggered back a step.

"My father died before the collapse."

Ethan looked up. "No, Lara. He disappeared. Just like you."

Lara's breath caught in her throat.

Her father.

The man who had raised her with ambition and discipline.

The man she had mourned. Buried. Grieved.

Gone… but not dead?

"You're lying," she whispered.

"I wish I was," Ethan replied. "But Daniel White faked his own death. He vanished with millions… and pulled strings from the shadows. He didn't just set you up, Lara. He set both of us up."

Lara shook her head, heart pounding. "Why would he destroy his own daughter?"

Ethan's jaw clenched. "Because you were the threat. The weak link. You had a heart."

She nearly slapped him — not out of rage, but to snap herself out of the nightmare she was living.

"My father loved me."

Ethan stood, his voice low and steady. "He loved power more."

Lara backed away, her chest tightening with something more dangerous than anger — doubt.

What if it was true?

What if everything — the betrayal, the lies, the fall — hadn't started with Ethan?

What if her father had pulled the first string?

And worse…

What if he was still pulling them?

As Ethan stepped toward the door, he paused.

"There's someone you need to meet. Someone who can prove I'm not your real enemy."

Lara didn't answer.

Because suddenly, she wasn't sure who anyone was anymore.