CHAPTER 5

The Hidden Agenda

“Ares?” Selene’s voice was soft, yet it carried through the thick air of the hospital room like a tether, pulling Ares back from the spiral of thoughts that consumed him. He barely registered her presence as she moved across the room, adjusting the blinds, her every movement fluid, as if choreographed for the sole purpose of maintaining peace in a room filled with rage and uncertainty.

Ares, still lying on the sterile white sheets of the hospital bed, could feel the gnawing ache that had settled in his chest since the accident. The helplessness, the rage, the constant ticking of unanswered questions, each one louder than the last. But of all the emotions that weighed on him, there was one that burned most betrayal.

Victor. Charlotte. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. The more he turned over the events of that night in his head, the more everything seemed to fall apart. The more his body betrayed him, the more the people he trusted turned out to be just as broken. It was only Selene who remained constant, a figure in the shadows who watched over him like an eerie presence, both soothing and unsettling.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hiding something. Not just from him, but from everyone. The way she avoided certain topics, the way she seemed to know things about him he hadn’t said aloud his unease grew every time she entered the room.

“Selene,” he finally rasped, his voice thick with the weight of his frustrations. He had spent hours lying here in silence, and now his curiosity got the better of him. “Who are you really?”

She turned toward him, her face neutral, but there was a flicker in her eyes. She wasn’t surprised by his question no, it was almost as though she’d expected it. She held his gaze for a long moment, her lips parting as if to speak, but she seemed to change her mind.

“I’m just someone here to help you recover,” she replied, her voice steady, but there was an edge of something that didn’t quite fit. A lie? Ares couldn’t tell. He needed more.

“Just someone? Is that all?” he asked, his brow furrowing. “You’ve been here every day, Selene. Every day, even when others... when they left. You know more about me than anyone, but you can’t be this... just a nurse. You’ve been avoiding something. Something about you.”

Her eyes shifted slightly, her gaze dropping to the floor, and then, almost too quickly, she masked her reaction, lifting her chin and meeting his eyes again.

“I’ve had my share of loss, Ares,” she said, her voice lower now, almost... sad. “I’m not so different from you. I know what it feels like to be... shattered.”

Ares narrowed his eyes, leaning forward slightly in the bed. He had never been one to back down from a confrontation, especially one that involved his growing suspicions. There was a lot about Selene he hadn’t yet understood. She was no mere caretaker; there was more to her, more than she let on.

“Then why the ring?” he asked, his voice flat but his words laced with a sense of challenge. He had noticed it earlier, during one of her brief moments of vulnerability the subtle glint of a ring on her left hand, one that seemed to hold significance. “That ring... where’s it from?”

Her eyes widened, just for a second, before the mask was back in place. She seemed to bite back a response, her fingers instinctively brushing the ring, as if she were trying to erase its presence.

“It’s... nothing,” she said quickly, stepping back slightly, her calm demeanor slipping for just a fraction of a second. “Just something from the past. It doesn’t matter.”

But Ares didn’t buy it. Nothing about this felt right. She wasn’t telling him everything. And deep down, he suspected that this woman this enigma in front of him knew far more about his life and its unraveling than she was letting on.

That was when he heard it a faint murmur, a voice, coming from just outside the door.

Selene’s eyes widened, her face paling ever so slightly, and for the briefest of moments, Ares could see the tension in her posture.

“Charlotte,” she said, almost too casually, but Ares caught the shift in her tone. She was hiding something, he could feel it.

But before Ares could press further, Selene turned, walking briskly to the door. “I’ll leave you to rest. We’ll talk later,” she said, the door closing softly behind her.

Ares lay there in silence, the weight of the conversation pressing down on him. The whisper of Charlotte’s name had been enough to send a wave of suspicion flooding back. Had she and Selene known each other? Were they working together to keep him in the dark?

His thoughts were interrupted by the faintest sound Selene’s voice, hushed, carrying through the door. “Charlotte, I’ve been waiting for you...”

Ares’ heart thudded in his chest. His suspicion was growing.

The world outside was a blur of noise, light, and confusion. But Ares Ares was trapped in a haze of his own creation. The pain had subsided a bit, but the weight of his helplessness was an ever-present companion.

His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling as he lay motionless on the hospital bed. There was a hollowness inside him, a place that had once been filled with pride, ambition, and unshakable power. But now... now that void was consumed by something else something darker.

What happened to me?

His mind spiraled as the reality of his situation continued to settle over him. He wasn’t the man he used to be. His body, once strong and invincible, now betrayed him at every turn. Every inch of his body screamed for attention every bruise, every fracture, a testament to the accident that had torn his world apart.

He closed his eyes, his mind racing through his options, none of them good. His company, Calloway Enterprises, the very thing that had defined him, was slipping through his fingers. The doctors, the lawyers none of them had answers, none of them could tell him how long this would last. Would he ever walk again? Would he ever be able to reclaim the power he’d once held?

He could feel the cold emptiness inside, his identity shattered like glass, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t know who he was.

The weight of betrayal hit him harder now, as the memories of that night became sharper, more vivid. Victor. Charlotte. How could they have abandoned him so easily? His closest friend, his fiancée both of them had turned their backs on him. Was it the accident? Or had there been something more? The more Ares thought about it, the more he realized he had been blind.

Was it their fault? Had they engineered his downfall? Or had they simply seen his weakness and used it to their advantage?

His body ached, but it was his mind that burned. He wanted answers. He needed to know what had happened.

You’re nothing now, he thought bitterly, staring at the ceiling as if it might provide some kind of solace. They’ve all left you. You have no control. No power.

His chest tightened at the thought. The man who had conquered every obstacle, the man who had built a billion-dollar empire, was now reduced to a mere shell. What was he supposed to do now? How could he survive this?...