Cracks in the mirror

Chapter Four: Cracks in the Mirror

Ethan stared at the security footage like it owed him an answer.

The screen flickered—grainy black and white footage of his building’s private elevator, timestamped just after noon. Emma’s floor. Camera angle: top right. Nothing out of place.

Until she opened the door.

And Rose walked in.

He paused the video. Zoomed in. Watched it again. Frame by frame.

Emma’s face. Pale, surprised.

Rose’s posture. Unapologetic. Elegant as always. But there was something else—something colder behind her composure.

He watched them disappear into the apartment.

Then the door closed.

No footage after that.

No sound.

No way to know what was said inside.

Ethan leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking beneath him. His jaw twitched.

Two women.

Two flames he thought he could contain.

Now they were burning each other—and the fire was spreading back to him.

He’d underestimated them. That was unlike him. Emma had always been emotional, yes, but obedient. Fragile in her devotion for him. Addicted to his approval. And Rose? Calculated, distant, the kind of woman who knew how to dress her ambition in silk and smile with her teeth.

He’d managed them both so well for so long or so he thought.

But something had shifted.

Emma had changed. She looked at him differently now. Not with adoration. Not even fear. It was something worse.

Pity.

And Rose—he’d thought she wanted status, power, his name on a ring. But if she’d gone to Emma, it meant she wasn’t looking for a wedding.

She was looking for truth.

Ethan stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The city pulsed below, unaware of the empire cracking at its core.

He picked up his phone. Dialed.

“Marcus,” he said as his assistant answered. “I want everything. Full surveillance records. Emma’s devices. Her email, cloud storage, bank activity. Same for Rose.”

A beat of silence.

“Yes, sir,” Marcus replied, hesitant. “Are you… concerned?”

Ethan didn’t answer. He hung up.

Of course he was concerned.

Not because they were planning something.

Because they were planning it together.

And that made them dangerous.

Ethan pressed a hand to the glass, the city cold against his palm.

He couldn’t afford to lose control. Not now, not ever. Not when he was so close to something permanent. He had enemies watching as hawks for a tiny bit crack in his life. Investors are waiting. He couldn’t let emotions become liabilities.

But Emma wasn’t a liability.

She was a legacy. One he’d carved with time and hands and blood.

And Rose?

She was the perfect ending.

Until now.

He turned from the window, eyes darkening.

If they wanted to play games, fine.

He’d always been the one holding the board.

And he had one last move left.

One they would never see coming

His master stroke

Ethan wasn't ready to lose this game.