Love Between Two Enemies Part Five

When Love Turns Dangerous

The city woke up angry.

By morning, Samuel Whitaker’s death was no longer a whisper—it was a headline.

FORMER EXECUTIVE FOUND DEAD — POLICE INVESTIGATE CORPORATE CONNECTIONS

Ethan read the article on his phone as the elevator carried him down from his penthouse, his reflection staring back at him like a stranger. Pale. Tense. Older.

Murder had a way of accelerating everything.

He knew the police would come.
He knew Luca had planned it that way.

What he didn’t know—what terrified him—was how far Luca was willing to go next.


---

Isabella was being watched.

She felt it the moment she stepped out of the shower that morning, the steam still clinging to the mirrors. The house was too quiet. Too orderly.

Her phone sat on the dresser.

Three missed calls.
All from Luca.

She didn’t return them.

Instead, she dressed quickly and went downstairs, only to find two unfamiliar men in suits standing near the entrance.

“Who are they?” she asked her father sharply.

“Security,” he replied without looking up from his tablet. “For your protection.”

“Protection from whom?” she demanded.

He finally met her eyes. “From scandal.”

She laughed bitterly. “Or from choice?”

His jaw tightened. “You will marry Luca. This ends when you do.”

Isabella realized then that her father wasn’t afraid of losing her.

He was afraid of losing control.


---

Ethan made his decision before the police ever arrived.

He walked into Ashford Industries’ main boardroom that afternoon like a man walking into his own execution.

His father sat at the head of the table, surrounded by lawyers and executives. The air was heavy with tension and old power.

Ethan placed a folder on the table.

“What’s this?” Richard Ashford asked coldly.

“The truth,” Ethan replied.

He opened the folder and slid copies of the Riverside contract across the table.

The clause.
The signatures.
The shared crime.

Gasps followed. Arguments erupted.

Richard stood abruptly. “Are you insane?”

“No,” Ethan said calmly. “I’m done lying.”

“You will destroy this family,” his father hissed.

Ethan met his gaze. “You already did. I’m just ending it.”

Silence fell.

Then Richard spoke, his voice low and dangerous.

“If you release this,” he said, “you are no longer my son.”

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

“Then I choose to be free.”

He walked out.


---

The police questioned Ethan that night.

Hours under fluorescent lights. Questions designed to corner, to provoke, to expose.

“Where were you the night Samuel Whitaker died?”

“At Pier 46.”

“With whom?”

Ethan paused.

“Alone,” he said.

It was a lie.

And a sacrifice.


---

Isabella found out an hour later.

She burst into the small café where Ethan waited, his coffee untouched, his face shadowed with exhaustion.

“You lied for me,” she said, breathless.

He looked up. “I’d do worse.”

Her voice shook. “You didn’t have to.”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I did.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Luca is tightening the net. He controls my schedule. My phone. Everything.”

Ethan stood. “Then we stop playing defense.”

She looked at him, fear and resolve colliding. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying we go public.”

Her heart stopped. “That would start a war.”

“It already has,” he replied. “We just haven’t named the sides.”


---

That night, Luca visited Isabella unannounced.

He dismissed the guards with a smile and stepped into the living room like he owned it.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said pleasantly.

She folded her arms. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Dangerous habit.”

She lifted her chin. “I won’t marry you.”

The silence was instant—and terrifying.

Luca’s smile faded. “Careful.”

“I know what you did,” she continued, her voice steady. “Samuel Whitaker. The investigation. You’re manipulating everything.”

He stepped closer. “And you’re still breathing. Which should tell you something.”

Her heart raced. “You won’t get away with this.”

Luca leaned in, his voice soft and cruel. “I already have. And if Ashford doesn’t disappear quietly… accidents happen.”

That was the moment fear turned into fury.


---

The next morning, the internet exploded.

ASHFORD HEIR ACCUSES FAMILY OF FRAUD
MORETTI DAUGHTER CALLS OFF ENGAGEMENT

Photos of Isabella without her ring flooded social media. Ethan’s statement went viral within minutes.

They had gone public.

Together.

Isabella stood beside Ethan at the press conference, her hand firmly in his. Cameras flashed. Reporters shouted questions.

“Are you afraid?” someone yelled.

Isabella spoke first.

“Yes,” she said clearly. “But I’m more afraid of living a lie.”

Ethan squeezed her hand.

Luca watched from a black car across the street, his expression unreadable.

Then he smiled.


---

That night, Isabella’s car didn’t arrive home.

Ethan’s phone rang once.

Unknown number.

Luca’s voice was calm.

“You chose love,” he said. “Now see what it costs.”

The line went dead.

And Ethan knew—
The war had claimed its first hostage.

In Part Six: “Taken”

Isabella disappears without a trace.
Ethan crosses a line he can never uncross.
And Luca reveals the true rules of his game…

Love is no longer the prize.
It’s the weapon.