Chapter 4 - The Fall of the House of Caldwell
The gala was over,
but the execution was just beginning.
Within the hour,
the news had hit every major outlet in the world.
The headline was the same everywhere:
'Caldwell CEO Humiliates Secret Billionaire Heiress,
Loses Everything in Minutes.'
The stock for Caldwell International didn't just dip;
it vanished.
The investors who had been laughing in the ballroom were now facing ruin,
and they blamed one man.
Ethan was being escorted out of the Plaza through the service hallway,
the very path Miranda had suggested I take.
He was surrounded by reporters who were shouting questions about his infidelity and his financial fraud.
Miranda was right behind him,
trying to cover her face with her clutch,
but the world had already seen her.
She was no longer the 'it-girl' of the social scene.
She was the woman who had helped destroy a company by being a bully.
My father and I stood on the balcony overlooking the ballroom,
watching the cleaning crew sweep up the remnants of the party.
“You held out a long time,
Liv,”
my father said,
handing me a glass of water.
“I wanted to believe he was different,”
I admitted,
watching the glittering lights of the city.
“I wanted to believe that I was enough,
without the name Evans.”
“You were always enough,”
he replied,
his voice softening.
“He was just too small to see it.”
Marcus walked up to us,
holding a tablet.
“The transition is complete,
sir.
Caldwell International is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Evans Holdings.
We’ve cleared out Ethan’s office.
His personal accounts have been frozen pending the investigation into the diverted funds he used for the mistress’s apartment.”
I looked at the tablet.
Everything Ethan had built was now mine.
The irony was that I didn't even want it.
“Sell the assets,”
I told Marcus.
“Keep the employees,
rebrand the technology,
but wipe his name from everything.
I want the name Caldwell to mean nothing by tomorrow morning.”
Marcus nodded and stepped away to execute the orders.
I felt a weight lift off my shoulders that I hadn't even realized I was carrying.
For three years,
I had been shrinking myself to fit into Ethan's world.
I had been apologizing for being 'plain.'
May you like
I had been grieving my losses in silence while he celebrated his gains.
No more.
