Chapter 20 – The Photo
The next morning, Clara opened her phone and froze.
Her face was everywhere.
"Mrs. Blackwood's Secret Past!"
"From Debt to Diamond: Who Really Is Clara?"
Her heart pounded as she scrolled — someone had leaked old photos from her college years, when she'd worked three jobs and barely scraped by. The headlines twisted it all, painting her as a schemer.
When Ethan entered the dining room, she was pale and shaking.
"Did you see it?" she asked.
"Yes," he said grimly.
"And?"
He handed her his phone. His legal team was already issuing takedown notices. "I'll handle it."
"But everyone already thinks—"
"Let them think."
She stared at him, hurt. "So you don't care that they're calling me a liar?"
His gaze softened. "I care. But not about them."
Clara blinked. "Then what do you care about?"
For a second, something flickered across his face — too quick, too vulnerable to name. Then it was gone.
"Stability," he said flatly. "Control."
She looked at him — this man who thought control could protect him from everything — and realized how fragile that armor really was.
As he turned to leave, she whispered, "Maybe one day you'll care about something real."
He stopped in the doorway, shoulders tense.
"Maybe," he said quietly. "But not today."
And just like that, she realized:
The cracks in Ethan Blackwood's walls weren't from anger or ego — they were from fear.