Chapter 4 - Ethan Found Out Someone Had Been Lying About His MarriageEthan's lawyers traced the blocked number.
It had been changed through an executive communications account.
The account belonged to Caldwell Holdings.
The authorization?
His father's former chief of staff.
Daniel Royce.
Ethan remembered him.
A loyal employee.
A man who had practically helped raise Ethan after his mother died.
Daniel had disappeared shortly after Ethan's father's death.
Now Ethan found him living in Arizona.
He flew there.
Daniel opened the door.
He looked old.
Much older than Ethan remembered.
“You came.”
“You blocked Maya.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your father ordered me.”
“He was dead.”
“Not then.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
Daniel stepped back.
“Come inside.”
The story became darker.
Ethan's father had been involved in financial manipulation.
He had moved money through shell companies.
But he had not been the architect.
He had been protecting someone.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Marcus Hart.”
Ethan frowned.
Victoria's father?
Daniel nodded.
“Marcus was your father's business partner.”
“Why protect him?”
“He had information.”
“What information?”
“About Caldwell Holdings.”
“Which was?”
“The company was built on a private financing network.”
Ethan stared.
“Meaning?”
“Investors who didn't want their names exposed.”
“Illegal?”
“Some were.”
“Who controlled them?”
Daniel paused.
“Your grandfather.”
Ethan's face changed.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
The family history was unraveling.
The company he had inherited had deeper roots than he'd imagined.
Then Daniel gave him another file.
“Maya discovered it.”
“So my father wanted her watched.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he just destroy the documents?”
“He tried.”
“But?”
“She had copies.”
Ethan looked down.
“Why did you block her call?”
“Your father ordered me to keep you away.”
“From her?”
“From everyone.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew people were planning to take control of the company.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your father believed Victoria's family was involved.”
Ethan's stomach twisted.
Victoria.
Again.
He returned to Chicago.
Maya was waiting.
“Did you find answers?”
“Some.”
“Which ones?”
“I know your call was blocked.”
She looked surprised.
“By who?”
“My father's assistant.”
“Why?”
“To keep us apart.”
Maya sat.
“Then my suspicions were right.”
“How?”
She looked toward Noah's room.
“When we divorced, I thought you had simply fallen out of love.”
“I had.”
She swallowed.
“But then I discovered you were being manipulated.”
Ethan frowned.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
“Why?”
“He was afraid I would expose the accounts.”
“And Victoria?”
“I don't know if she knew.”
Ethan didn't tell her.
Not yet.
He needed more proof.
Then a new problem appeared.
Caldwell Holdings' stock plunged.
Rumors spread that Ethan was unstable.
That he had a secret child.
That Maya was demanding control.
The media went after her.
Someone leaked photographs of Noah.
Ethan became furious.
He called an emergency press conference.
Cameras filled the room.
He stood at the podium.
“I have one son.”
The reporters erupted.
“Yes, his mother is Maya Kane.”
“No, she never asked me for money.”
“No, she did not trap me.”
“Yes, I should have known.”
He paused.
“And the fact that I didn't is my failure.”
The room went silent.
“I will not allow anyone to use my son as a weapon.”
Later, Ethan found Maya watching the press conference.
“You didn't have to do that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't deserve to carry the blame alone.”
She looked at him.
“For the first time, you sound like the man I married.”
He smiled sadly.
“I wish I'd been him sooner.”
She looked away.
Then Noah ran into the room.
“Dad!”
Ethan turned.
Noah jumped into his arms.
The gesture nearly broke him.
He held him tightly.
Maya watched.
Something softened.
Then Noah asked:
“Can you stay for dinner?”
Ethan looked at Maya.
She hesitated.
“You can.”
“I'd like that.”
They ate together.
Pizza.
Mac and cheese.
Noah spilled juice.
Ethan laughed.
For one evening, they were almost normal.
After Noah went to sleep, Maya and Ethan sat in the kitchen.
“You know,” she said, “he has your laugh.”
Ethan looked at the stairs.
“I didn't know what I was missing.”
“You didn't.”
“I wish I had.”
Maya stared at her hands.
“So do I.”
He reached across the table.
She didn't move.
He touched her fingers.
She finally looked up.
“I don't know what we're doing.”
“Neither do I.”
“You're still engaged.”
Ethan withdrew his hand.
“I won't be for much longer.”
“Ethan.”
“I can't marry Victoria.”
“You need to do what is right.”
“I know.”
“And not because of me.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then the front door opened.
Security rushed inside.
“Mr. Caldwell!”
Ethan stood.
“What?”
“The warehouse district just received an emergency police alert.”
“Why?”
“A Caldwell Holdings storage site is on fire.”
Ethan grabbed his coat.
“What was stored there?”
His security chief looked at him.
“Your father's private records.”
Maya's face went pale.
“The files.”
Ethan understood.
May you like
Someone was destroying evidence.
And if they were burning the records now, it meant someone feared what Ethan might discover next.
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