Chapter 2: The Key Card
Ethan didn't move.
For a long moment he just stood there, his hand still on the doorknob, his jaw tight.
Then he turned and looked at me — really looked at me — and something shifted behind his eyes.
Not anger.
Something quieter and far more dangerous.
"How long?" he asked.
I couldn't answer.
"Ava.
How long has he been doing this?"
"Please don't make a scene tonight.
There are senators downstairs.
Cameras everywhere.
If you say anything, Andrew will—"
"Will what?"
I pressed my lips together.
Ethan stepped closer, his voice dropping to almost nothing.
"What does he do when you try to leave?"
My silence answered for me.
He exhaled slowly, reached into his jacket pocket, and placed something on the dressing table beside me.
A room key card.
Suite 1401.
"After the gala," he said.
"Come upstairs.
You don't have to explain anything.
Just come."
Before I could respond, the door swung open behind him.
Andrew filled the doorway in his tuxedo, smiling the way he always smiled in public — warm, polished, completely convincing.
His eyes moved from Ethan to me.
Then down to the key card on the table.
The smile didn't disappear.
It just changed into something else entirely.
"There you are," Andrew said softly.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, sweetheart."
---
What Andrew said next — and what Ethan did before that stage presentation began — will change everything.
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