Chapter 5: The Photograph

I stayed awake until morning.

The photograph was still on my phone.

I had looked at it so many times that I could almost remember every detail.

Ethan stood outside the Blackwood Group building.

He looked different in the photograph.

Confident.

Powerful.

Like someone who belonged there.

But according to Ethan, he was simply a businessman.

Nothing more.

I looked at the photograph again.

There were several men standing around him.

They weren't smiling.

They looked serious.

Important.

And strangely familiar with him.

I zoomed in.

Then I noticed something.

A small silver pin attached to Ethan's jacket.

A black wolf surrounded by a circle.

The same symbol I had seen on the marriage contract.

My stomach tightened.

Why was that symbol everywhere?

I opened the contract.

There it was again.

The exact same black wolf.

I turned the page.

Nothing.

I checked the next page.

Nothing.

I was about to close the contract when something caught my attention.

At the very bottom of the final page was a tiny symbol.

I stared at it.

It wasn't part of the printed contract.

It looked like someone had stamped it there afterward.

The black wolf.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

I placed the contract beside the photograph.

The two symbols were identical.

This wasn't a coincidence.

I heard footsteps behind me.

I quickly turned.

Ethan stood in the doorway.

I froze.

He looked at the photograph in my hand.

His expression changed immediately.

"Where did you get that?"

His voice was different.

Not calm.

Not controlled.

Afraid.

I slowly lowered my phone.

"Someone sent it to me."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

He walked toward me.

"Give me the phone."

"Why?"

"Jasmine."

"Why are you so worried about a photograph?"

He stopped.

His eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"Because that photograph wasn't supposed to exist."

My heart skipped.

"What does that mean?"

He didn't answer.

I stood up.

"Who are those people?"

"No one."

"That's not true."

"Jasmine, give me the phone."

I stepped backward.

"No."

His jaw tightened.

"You don't understand what you're looking at."

"Then explain it."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because it's complicated."

I laughed bitterly.

"Everything about you is complicated."

He reached for the phone again.

I pulled it away.

"What happened in that photograph?"

His eyes hardened.

"Nothing."

"Then why do you look scared?"

"I'm not scared."

"You are."

He stared at me.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then his expression softened.

"Jasmine, please."

It was the first time he'd ever said please to me.

I hesitated.

He took a step closer.

"You need to forget about that photograph."

"Why?"

"Because whoever sent it wants you to believe something that isn't true."

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"Ethan."

He looked away.

I noticed something.

In the photograph, there was a building behind him.

Not the Blackwood Group building.

Another building.

The sign was partly hidden.

I zoomed in.

Only three letters were visible.

BLA...

I looked at Ethan.

"What's that building?"

He went completely still.

"I don't know."

"You were standing right in front of it."

"I said I don't know."

His voice was sharper now.

I stared at the photograph again.

There was another detail.

A black car was parked behind the group.

Its doors were open.

And beside the car stood a woman.

She was wearing a red dress.

I hadn't noticed her before.

She was looking directly at Ethan.

Not at the camera.

At him.

Her expression was strangely familiar.

Almost affectionate.

I looked at Ethan.

"Who is she?"

His face changed.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

He knew her.

"Nobody."

I stared at him.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

He reached for the phone again.

"Give it to me."

"No."

"Jasmine."

"Who is she?"

He didn't answer.

I zoomed in on the woman.

There was something in her hand.

A ring.

A large diamond ring.

I stared at it.

Then at my own hand.

My wedding ring.

The designs were almost identical.

My heart began to race.

I looked at Ethan.

"What is this?"

He said nothing.

I looked back at the photograph.

Then something caught my attention.

Behind the woman in the red dress was a large glass window.

Reflected in it were several people.

One of them was Ethan.

Another was his father.

And between them stood a young woman.

I zoomed in.

My breath caught.

She was holding a baby.

I stared at the image.

Then I looked at Ethan.

"Who is that woman?"

He didn't answer.

"Who is she, Ethan?"

Still nothing.

I stepped closer.

"Why was she with you?"

His eyes met mine.

For the first time, I saw something I had never seen in his face before.

Guilt.

I swallowed.

"Is she your ex-wife?"

His expression hardened.

"No."

"Then who is she?"

He looked away.

I felt something twist inside my chest.

Because suddenly, the photograph wasn't just showing me that Ethan had secrets.

It was showing me that there was an entire part of his life that existed before me.

A part he had never told me about.

I looked at the woman again.

Then at the baby in her arms.

My voice came out barely above a whisper.

"Ethan..."

He looked at me.

"Is that your child?"

Silence.

He didn't say yes.

He didn't say no.

He simply stared at the photograph.

And that silence was enough.

My fingers went cold.

I looked down at the photograph one more time.

Then I realized something that made my heart stop.

The photograph wasn't taken recently.

It was dated three years ago.

And Ethan was wearing the exact same black wolf symbol he had on the day he asked me to marry him.

I looked at him.

"Who were you three years ago?"

He didn't answer.

And for the first time, I wondered if the man standing in front of me had ever been Ethan Carter at all.