Chapter 6: Who is my Husband

I waited until Ethan left the house.

I watched from the upstairs window as his car disappeared through the gates.

Only then did I return to my room.

I closed the door.

Locked it.

Then I placed my phone on the bed.

For several minutes, I simply stared at it.

I had spent the past few days telling myself that Ethan was hiding something.

Now I knew it.

The photograph had proved that.

But I still didn't know what he was hiding.

So I decided to find out.

I opened my laptop.

The first thing I searched was simple.

Ethan Carter California businessman.

Hundreds of results appeared.

I started scrolling.

Real estate agents.

Lawyers.

Doctors.

Students.

Business owners.

But nothing looked like him.

I added more details.

Ethan Carter Blackwood Group.

Nothing.

I tried again.

Ethan Carter California Blackwood.

Still nothing.

My heart began beating faster.

How could a businessman who claimed to be connected to such a wealthy family have almost no information online?

I searched for Blackwood Group instead.

This time, thousands of results appeared.

The company was everywhere.

News articles.

Business magazines.

Financial reports.

Interviews.

Photographs.

I clicked through several pages.

The Blackwood family had been involved in business for decades.

Their name appeared beside hotels, property companies and investment firms.

But something caught my attention.

The articles mentioned several members of the family.

The founder.

His wife.

Their children.

Executives.

Directors.

Heirs.

I read through the names carefully.

Then I stopped.

There was no Ethan Carter.

Not once.

I searched again.

Nothing.

I leaned back in my chair.

"That's impossible."

If Ethan was really part of this family, why wasn't his name anywhere?

I opened another article.

It was about a Blackwood family charity event from five years ago.

There were photographs.

I scrolled through them.

Ethan wasn't there.

Another article.

A business conference.

No Ethan.

Another.

A family celebration.

Still nothing.

I closed my eyes.

Maybe he wasn't as important to the family as I thought.

Maybe he had simply chosen to stay out of the public eye.

That had to be it.

I opened the photograph again.

Ethan was standing in the center of the group.

He clearly belonged there.

But why?

I zoomed in on the men around him.

One of them was Ethan's father.

Another was the stranger who had come to our house.

I saved the image.

Then I created a folder on my laptop.

I named it:

Ethan.

I felt slightly ridiculous doing it.

I was secretly investigating my own husband.

But this wasn't curiosity anymore.

It was self-preservation.

I opened a new document.

At the top, I typed:

Things I Know About Ethan Carter

Then I started writing.

Age: 27.

Businessman.

Claims to be an only child.

Parents divorced.

Connected to the Blackwood family.

Lives in a mansion.

Has enemies.

Knows people who seem afraid of him.

Has a mysterious past in San Francisco.

And possibly...

I paused.

I looked at the photograph of the woman in the red dress.

Possibly has a child.

I stared at that last sentence.

I wasn't ready to believe it.

I didn't even know if the child was his.

But I needed to know.

I searched for the San Francisco incident next.

I tried different combinations.

Blackwood San Francisco incident.

Blackwood family San Francisco three years ago.

Blackwood Group San Francisco incident.

Nothing useful appeared.

Then I found an old news article.

It was dated three years ago.

The headline caught my attention.

PRIVATE VEHICLE CRASH LEAVES ONE PERSON DEAD IN SAN FRANCISCO.

I clicked it.

My eyes moved quickly across the article.

The accident had happened late at night.

A black luxury vehicle had crashed near a private road.

One person had died.

Another person had been seriously injured.

The names of those involved had not been released.

I read the article again.

A black luxury vehicle.

Three years ago.

San Francisco.

My stomach tightened.

Could this be what the stranger was talking about?

I kept scrolling.

There was one photograph.

A blurry picture of the crashed vehicle.

I stared at it.

Then I noticed something familiar.

A small silver emblem was visible on the front of the car.

A black wolf surrounded by a circle.

I stopped breathing.

It was the same symbol.

The same one from Ethan's contract.

The same one from the photograph.

My hands began to shake.

This wasn't a coincidence anymore.

I took a screenshot.

Then I saved the article.

Suddenly, I heard a car outside.

I froze.

Ethan.

I quickly closed the laptop.

I shoved it beneath the bed.

Then I grabbed my phone and sat on the edge of the mattress.

A few seconds later, the bedroom door opened.

Ethan stood there.

"You weren't downstairs."

"I was tired."

His eyes moved around the room.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing."

He stared at me.

I forced myself to remain calm.

"How was your meeting?"

"Fine."

"Good."

He walked toward the closet.

I watched him carefully.

Then he turned.

"Jasmine."

"Yes?"

"Have you been searching for me?"

My heart stopped.

I couldn't speak.

He took one step closer.

"I asked you a question."

I swallowed.

"No."

He stared at me.

For a long moment, neither of us moved.

Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.

It wasn't his usual smile.

It was colder.

Almost knowing.

"Good."

He turned and walked out of my room.

I waited until I heard his bedroom door close across the hallway.

Only then did I reach under my bed and pull out my laptop

My hands were trembling.

I opened the saved article.

The photograph of the crashed car appeared on the screen.

I looked at the black wolf emblem again.

Then I noticed something I had missed before.

In the background of the photograph was a road sign.

I zoomed in.

My eyes widened.

The accident had happened on Blackwood Road.

I stared at the screen.

Then I peaked through my slightly opened door towards his bedroom door.

Ethan was still inside.

For the first time, I understood something.

The Blackwood name wasn't simply connected to Ethan's family.

It was connected to the night he had warned me never to ask about.

And now I had a reason to find out exactly what happened three years ago.

Because whatever happened that night...

Ethan Carter was somehow at the center of it.