Chapter 8 - The Man Ethan Trusted With His Life
Brian's face was expressionless.
Ethan stared at him.
“Put the gun down.”
“No.”
“Brian.”
“I've spent seventeen years serving you.”
“You're not the one I thought you were.”
Brian shook his head.
“I am exactly who you thought I was.”
He looked at me.
“Ethan is.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Brian pointed at the ledger.
“Ethan knew Henry was coming.”
“Yes.”
“He knew Derek was working for him.”
“No.”
“He knew the bird was a warning.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“That isn't true.”
Brian laughed.
“You really still believe he married her because he loved her?”
My stomach dropped.
Brian looked at me.
“He married you because your father offered the Blackwater Corridor.”
“That was true.”
“Yes.”
“But there was another deal.”
He threw a document onto the table.
Ethan looked at it.
His expression changed.
I picked it up.
A contract.
Ethan's signature.
My father's signature.
And one clause.
If Jane Carter dies, Ethan receives full control of the corridor.
I looked at him.
He didn't speak.
My heart shattered.
“Is this real?”
“Yes.”
The answer nearly destroyed me.
“You signed this.”
“Yes.”
“Then everything you told me—”
“Jane, listen.”
“No.”
I stepped back.
“You lied again.”
“I signed it before I knew you.”
“But it existed.”
“Yes.”
“Would you have let me die?”
“No.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I changed the agreement.”
He showed me another document.
A later amendment.
If Jane Carter dies, all assets transfer to a charitable trust.
I stared.
“You changed it.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months after our wedding.”
The same time he had started watching me.
The same time his behavior changed.
I understood.
“I was the threat?”
He shook his head.
“You were the reason I broke the deal.”
Brian laughed.
“You see how easy he makes it sound?”
Ethan turned toward him.
“Enough.”
Brian raised his weapon.
A shot exploded.
Derek tackled him.
The room erupted.
Brian escaped through the rear hallway.
We chased him into the basement.
But he vanished.
On the floor was another note.
Henry's handwriting.
Come alone, Ethan.
Bring no one.
Then a second line.
Bring Jane if you finally admit she owns your heart.
Ethan looked at me.
“You're staying.”
“No.”
“Jane.”
“I've spent my entire life being told where I can go.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
He looked at me.
“You could die.”
“So could you.”
“I can protect myself.”
“And who protects you?”
He had no answer.
We went together.
Henry's warehouse stood beside the river.
Inside, hundreds of boxes filled the floor.
No guards.
No noise.
Then the lights turned on.
Henry stood above us.
Brian beside him.
And behind them was a screen.
My father's image appeared.
Alive.
Recorded.
“Jane, if you're seeing this, I'm sorry.”
I started crying.
Henry smiled.
“Your father knew this day would come.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
Henry pointed toward another door.
“He has been here the entire time.”
We opened it.
My father sat inside.
Alive.
Exhausted.
He smiled.
“I'm sorry.”
I ran to him.
Henry raised his weapon.
Ethan stepped in front of us.
Brian fired.
Ethan was hit.
He fell.
I screamed.
Henry laughed.
“Now you understand.”
But Brian's expression changed.
He had not been aiming at Ethan.
He had been aiming at Henry.
Henry looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Brian lowered his gun.
“I told you I'd serve Ethan until the end.”
Henry collapsed.
The warehouse erupted with sirens.
Federal agents stormed inside.
My father had worked with them.
The evidence was already being transmitted.
Henry's network was exposed.
Brian had been undercover.
The final betrayal had been a performance.
Ethan had survived the gunshot.
But when I held him, his body felt frighteningly still.
“Ethan.”
His eyes opened.
“You're crying.”
“You're an idiot.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“I thought you were dead.”
He smiled faintly.
May you like
“Not yet.”
Then he passed out.
