Didn’t think this through, did you? Ethan’s mind raced. 3 minutes. They had 3 minutes. He looked at Aurora, at Damian, at the folder. Then he grabbed it out of Aurora’s hands and ran. Ethan, no. He didn’t stop. He bolted through the office, past Jessa into the hallway. Behind him, he could hear Damen shouting, Aurora screaming his name, footsteps pounding after him.

Ethan hit the stairwell and started running down, taking the steps three at a time. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it. 32nd floor, 25th, 15th. His lungs burned. His legs screamed. He kept running. At the ground floor, he burst through the emergency exit into the parking garage. Alarms started blaring. Aurora’s SUV was still there.

Ethan jumped in, turned the key she’d left in the ignition, and slammed the gas. The SUV roared out of the garage into morning sunlight. Ethan drove for 10 blocks before he pulled over, hands shaking so badly he could barely hold the wheel. His phone buzzed again. He pulled it out. 50 missed calls from Aurora. A text message.

Where are you? He typed back, “Safe. Meet at the diner off Route 9. Don’t come alone.” Then he threw the phone on the passenger seat and stared at the folder sitting in his lap. He’d just stolen evidence from one of the most powerful men in New York, and he had absolutely no idea what came next.

The diner off Route 9 smelled like burnt coffee and decades of grease that no amount of cleaning could remove. Ethan sat in a corner booth with the folder on the seat beside him, watching the door and trying not to think about how badly he just screwed up his life. His hands still shook. Outside, morning traffic crawled past. Normal people doing normal things.

Going to work, picking up groceries, living lives that didn’t involve stealing evidence from billionaires. Ethan’s phone buzzed again. He ignored it. 20 minutes passed before Aurora’s SUV pulled into the parking lot. She got out alone, moving fast, her face tight with anger and something that looked like fear. She spotted Ethan through the window and came straight inside.

“Are you out of your mind?” she hissed, sliding into the booth across from him. “Probably Damen saw you. He has you on camera. He knows your name, where you live, everything about you. I know. Then why did you run? Ethan pushed the folder across the table. Because he was going to have us arrested, both of us, and I couldn’t let that happened to you.

Aurora stared at the folder like it might explode. So, you made yourself the target instead. Yeah, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re welcome. Aurora’s eyes filled with tears. She wiped them away angrily. Do you understand what you just did? Damian’s lawyers are going to destroy you.

They’ll claim you coerced me, manipulated me, stole corporate property for financial gain. Let them. Ethan, I made a choice, Aurora. I knew what I was doing. No, you didn’t. You have no idea what he’s capable of. The waitress appeared, a tired woman in her 50s who looked like she’d seen every kind of human disaster walk through that door.

She refilled Ethan’s coffee without asking and looked at Aurora. You want anything, honey? Aurora shook her head. The waitress left. Aurora leaned forward, her voice dropping. Damen called me while I was driving here. He said, “If I don’t drop the lawsuit and sign over the remaining patents, he’s pressing charges against you for corporate espionage.

He’s already contacted the police.” Ethan’s stomach dropped. When? An hour ago. Then why aren’t they here? Because he’s giving me 48 hours to decide. He wants me to choose between saving you and saving my company. That’s extortion. That’s Damian. Ethan wrapped his hands around his coffee mug, feeling the heat burn through his palms.

What are you going to do? Aurora looked at him like he’d just asked the world’s dumbest question. I’m going to fight him. What do you think I’m going to do? Even if it means I go to jail? You’re not going to jail. You don’t know that. Yes, I do because Diane’s already looking at the documents you photographed before you ran.

Aurora pulled out her phone and showed him an email chain. She confirmed the forgeries. She’s filing an emergency motion on Monday to freeze Damen’s assets and open a criminal investigation. Ethan blinked. How did she get the photographs? I sent them to her while you were stealing my car. I didn’t steal it. You left the keys.

Semantics. Aurora pocketed her phone. The point is, we have proof. Real proof. Enough to destroy Damen’s entire case. But we still stole the originals. Technically, you stole the originals. I was just standing there looking pretty. Aurora, I’m kidding. Sort of. She reached across the table and took his hand.

Diane thinks she can argue that the theft was justified given Damen’s fraud. It’s a long shot, but it might work. Ethan stared at their joined hands. And if it doesn’t, then we figure something else out. That’s not a plan. It’s the only plan we have. They sat in silence for a long moment. Finally, Ethan spoke. I need to tell Chloe. Aurora’s expression softened.

What are you going to say? I don’t know. The truth, I guess. That you stole documents from a billionaire to help your neighbor? that I did something stupid because I care about someone. Aurora’s eyes glistened. She’s going to be scared. I know. You sure you want to do this? You could still walk away. Damian doesn’t care about you.

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