CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
Ethan stopped struggling.
That frightened me more than his anger.
His voice dropped low.
“You went through my documents?”
“You sent them to me.”
“You had no right.”
“I had every right to read a contract with my name on it.”
Victoria moved toward the couch.
Toward the phone.
“Don’t touch it,” I said.
She paused.
I smiled at her, calm now.
“The live backup already started.”
That was not completely true.
Not yet.
But Victoria believed it because powerful people understand surveillance better than anyone. They use it every day. They simply hate when it faces them.
Her hand lowered.
Ethan cursed into the rug.
“You set me up.”
“No,” I said. “I gave you room to be decent. You chose this.”
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“You have no idea what family you are challenging.”
I looked at her diamonds, her perfect gown, her cold eyes.
Then I remembered my mother’s hand squeezing mine before she died three years earlier, whispering, “Never make a home out of fear.”
“I know exactly what family I’m challenging,” I said. “That’s why my attorney is downstairs.”
Victoria went still.
The elevator chimed again.
This time, three people stepped into the penthouse hallway.
My attorney, Daniel Ross.
My father, Robert Parker.
And Ethan’s younger sister, Claire.
Ethan went rigid beneath me.
Victoria turned toward Claire like she had seen a ghost.
“What are you doing here?”
Claire was pale, but her voice was steady.
“What I should have done for Ethan’s first wife.”
The room changed.
Even the city outside seemed to go quiet.
I looked down at Ethan.
“First wife?”
His eyes shut.
Victoria’s face hardened.
“Claire. Leave.”
“No,” Claire said.
Daniel Ross held up his phone.
“Mrs. Carter, this call is being recorded with notice. I advise everyone in this room to stop making threats.”
My father’s eyes moved over me, the wedding dress, Ethan on the floor, the crop nearby.
He did not rush in.
He knew better than to startle someone holding a lock.
But his face broke in a way I would never forget.
“Em,” he said quietly. “Are you hurt?”
I swallowed.
“No.”
Ethan laughed bitterly from the rug.
“She attacked me.”
Claire looked at him with open disgust.
“No, Ethan. She survived the part where you thought nobody would walk in.”
Victoria’s hand clenched.
“You ungrateful girl.”
Claire stepped closer.
“I found the old settlement papers. I found what you paid Natalie to disappear. I found the hospital record you buried.”
My grip tightened.
Ethan whispered, “Claire.”
May you like
She looked at him.
“You don’t get to scare another woman quiet.”
