Chapter 5 - The Billionaire Who Chose Her Side
Sarah moved back into the tiny apartment as if the previous week had never happened.
She didn't answer calls.
She stopped checking the news.
She focused on Ethan.
But every night, when he slept, she opened her mother's letter.
One line kept repeating in her head.
"Take back what was stolen."
She couldn't take back her job.
She couldn't undo the public humiliation.
But she could find the truth.
So she started digging.
She visited public archives.
Old newspaper databases.
Company registrations.
Trade records.
Anything connected to the Brooks fashion division twenty-five years ago.
And then she found something.
A bankruptcy filing.
Clara Carter had registered a design studio.
Three months later, it disappeared.
The same month, Midnight Garden appeared under a newly formed corporation linked to Richard Brooks.
Sarah printed the documents.
Then she found another name.
Mason Hale.
A lawyer.
Retired.
Living two hours outside Bellhaven.
Sarah drove there alone.
Mason answered the door with a cane in one hand.
He took one look at her face.
"Clara's daughter."
Sarah froze.
"You knew my mother."
"I represented her."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Mason looked away.
"Because I was afraid."
Sarah swallowed.
"Of Richard?"
"Of what he'd do to my family."
"Did he hurt my mother?"
Mason's silence was answer enough.
"He didn't kill her," he finally said.
Sarah exhaled.
"But he destroyed her."
Mason invited her inside.
He showed her boxes.
Copies of original contracts.
Letters.
A handwritten ledger.
And one document that changed everything.
A trust agreement.
Clara had created a legal trust for Sarah.
The trust contained royalties from three designs.
But the royalties had been redirected into a holding company controlled by Richard.
Sarah stared.
"How much?"
Mason looked at her.
"Enough that your mother wouldn't have had to worry about money for the rest of her life."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"Then why were we poor?"
"Because someone kept stealing from you."
Mason handed her a file.
"There is one more thing."
It contained an old photograph.
Michael's father.
Daniel Brooks.
And Clara.
Standing outside a courthouse.
Sarah looked closer.
Daniel was holding a newborn baby.
Sarah's heart stopped.
"That's Ethan."
Mason nodded.
Sarah stared at him.
"My mother told me Ethan was a friend's child."
"He was."
Sarah looked up.
"Whose?"
Mason hesitated.
"Your father was not Ethan's biological father."
Sarah's mind raced.
She didn't care about bloodlines.
She cared about why her mother had hidden it.
"Why?"
"Because Ethan's biological father was Daniel Brooks's nephew."
Michael.
Sarah stood so quickly her chair scraped the floor.
"No."
Mason shook his head.
"It can't be."
"The dates don't match," Sarah whispered.
"They do."
Sarah stared at the photograph.
Michael's face flashed in her mind.
His questions.
His attention.
The way he looked at her.
Everything suddenly felt dangerous.
She returned to Bellhaven before dark.
Michael was waiting outside her apartment.
"You disappeared."
"I found something."
He watched her expression.
"Tell me."
"Ethan isn't who I thought he was."
Michael's brow furrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Sarah handed him the file.
He read it.
His face went pale.
"Ethan?"
"Your uncle had a nephew."
Michael looked at the documents.
"My cousin."
"Was."
Michael understood.
A young man named Lucas Brooks had died twenty years ago.
He had been nineteen.
And his death had always been described as an accident.
Sarah's voice broke.
"Ethan is his son."
Michael sat down.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked at her.
"Why would my family hide him?"
Sarah answered.
"Because your family didn't want a scandal."
Michael closed his eyes.
His cousin's death had never made sense.
Lucas had apparently disappeared before the accident.
Now Michael knew why.
He had left someone behind.
Michael stood.
"I'll protect Ethan."
Sarah's expression hardened.
"He doesn't need protection from you."
"I'm not saying he's weak."
"I'm saying I don't want him turned into another secret."
Michael stepped closer.
"You won't."
Sarah stared into his eyes.
"You can't promise that."
"I can promise what I do."
She looked away.
Michael's phone rang.
Claire.
"Michael, you need to come back."
"Why?"
"The board has called an emergency hearing."
"About Sarah?"
"About you."
He hung up.
"What happened?"
He looked at Sarah.
"They're accusing me of using company resources to investigate you."
Sarah laughed bitterly.
"So they're turning you into the villain now."
"They're scared."
"Of what?"
"The truth."
That night, Michael walked into the boardroom.
Every director was present.
Daniel Reed sat at the head.
Michael took his place.
Daniel slid a document forward.
"You're being asked to step aside."
Michael didn't even open it.
"No."
Daniel frowned.
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
Michael leaned back.
"Someone in this room stole designs from Clara Carter."
No one moved.
"Someone in this room framed Sarah."
Still silence.
"And someone in this room knows exactly what happened to Lucas Brooks."
Daniel's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Michael saw it.
"You're making serious accusations."
"Yes."
Michael smiled.
"Because I'm done being careful."
The meeting ended without a resolution.
But Michael had made a decision.
He would not save the company first.
May you like
He would save the truth first.
And for the first time in Brooks family history, the billionaire heir was ready to destroy the empire that had made him rich.
