Chapter 4 - Ethan’s First Betrayal
Emergency lights flickered on three seconds later.
Three seconds.
It was enough.
My father was gone.
“Dad!”
I ran toward the place where he had been standing.
My mother screamed behind me.
Security scattered across the terrace.
Guests pushed toward the mansion in panic.
Robert caught my arm.
“Clara, stop.”
“They took him.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do.”
His wet suit jacket lay beside the pool.
My father would never have removed it voluntarily.
I saw Ethan near the bandstand.
“Where is he?”
Ethan stared at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Your uncle told us someone was targeting my parents, the lights go out, and my father disappears.”
“I said I don’t know.”
I shoved his chest.
“Then find out.”
He caught my wrists.
Immediately, security moved toward him.
“Let go of her,” Robert ordered.
Ethan released me.
“Clara, listen.”
“No.”
“You need to listen because this is bigger than my mother.”
“Everything is always somebody else’s fault with you.”
His expression hardened.
“I knew about the Devereux investment.”
I stopped.
The chaos around me seemed to disappear.
“What?”
“I didn’t know everything.”
My mother stared at him.
“How long?”
Ethan looked directly at me.
“Eleven months.”
Eleven months.
For eleven months he had kissed me goodnight.
For eleven months he had listened while Olivia mocked my parents.
For eleven months he had allowed me to believe my identity remained secret.
“How?”
“Corporate diligence.”
“What diligence?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation destroyed whatever tiny piece of trust remained.
“Answer me.”
“Sterling was negotiating a refinancing package.”
“And?”
“One of the lenders disclosed that Devereux-controlled funds held significant voting rights.”
“You investigated me.”
“I investigated the shareholder.”
“I was your fiancée.”
“I didn’t know it was you at first.”
“But eventually you did.”
“Yes.”
My mother whispered my name.
I could barely breathe.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ethan looked toward Olivia.
Then back at me.
“Because my mother told me not to.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
Of course.
Even the discovery that his “poor” fiancée secretly controlled billions had gone through Olivia first.
“What did she tell you?”
“That if you wanted us to know, you would have told us.”
For once, Olivia’s reasoning sounded almost respectful.
I knew better.
“And then?”
“She asked me to wait.”
“For what?”
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“For what, Ethan?”
“To see whether you would intervene in the refinancing.”
There it was.
Not love.
A test.
They had discovered my power and decided to watch how I used it.
“Did you marry me for Sterling?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
“Did you stay with me because of Sterling?”
“No.”
“Did you plan to ask me for money after the wedding?”
His silence lasted less than two seconds.
It felt like a confession.
I stepped backward.
Ethan reached for me.
“Clara—”
“Don’t touch me.”
“Sterling employs fourteen thousand people.”
“So?”
“The company was under pressure. My mother wanted me to ask you to help after we were married.”
“And you agreed?”
“I told myself it wasn’t why I loved you.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
My mother covered her mouth.
I felt strangely calm.
Maybe there was a limit to heartbreak.
After that, everything became information.
“Did you know about the illegal transfers?”
“No.”
“The server wipe?”
“No.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“My father?”
“No.”
That last answer I believed.
Because Ethan looked genuinely terrified.
Robert approached.
“We have camera footage.”
My heart jumped.
“Where is Dad?”
“A dark utility vehicle exited through the catering gate nineteen seconds after the blackout.”
“License plate?”
“Covered.”
“Who opened the gate?”
Robert looked at Ethan.
I followed his gaze.
Ethan whispered, “No.”
“What?”
“The catering gate uses executive authorization.”
Robert nodded.
“Your credential was used.”
Ethan backed away.
“I didn’t do it.”
I wanted to hate him enough not to care.
But something was wrong.
He had been standing near me when the lights failed.
“Can credentials be cloned?”
Margaret joined us.
“Not easily.”
Thomas spoke from behind her.
“But they can be delegated.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I never delegated mine.”
Thomas stared.
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“Last October.”
Recognition hit Ethan’s face.
His mother closed her eyes.
I saw it.
“You gave Olivia access,” I said.
Ethan turned toward her.
“For the London acquisition.”
Olivia said nothing.
Ethan’s voice rose.
“You told me legal needed temporary access.”
“She kidnapped my father,” I said.
Olivia snapped, “I did no such thing.”
Thomas looked genuinely amused.
“Your biggest problem, Liv, is that you lie even when the truth would be more useful.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
I answered.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
A man spoke.
“Ms. Devereux.”
“Where is my father?”
“He is safe.”
“If you hurt him—”
“We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Then let him go.”
“Not yet.”
Robert quietly activated a trace request on his phone.
The caller continued.
“You have something that belongs to us.”
“What?”
“The drive Thomas Sterling brought to the wedding.”
Thomas went pale.
I looked at him.
The man on the phone said, “Bring it to Pier Forty-Seven at eleven tonight.”
“No police.”
“No federal agents.”
“No security.”
“And if I refuse?”
For the first time, my father’s voice came through the line.
“Clara, don’t—”
A blow interrupted him.
“Dad!”
The caller returned.
“Eleven.”
The connection ended.
My mother was crying.
I turned toward Thomas.
“Give me the drive.”
“No.”
I took a step closer.
“My father was taken because of whatever is on that drive.”
“If they get this, your father may be released.”
“May?”
Thomas’s eyes filled with something I had not expected.
Fear.
“They won’t let him live after he sees them.”
My mother made a broken sound.
I stared at Thomas.
“Who are they?”
He looked toward Ethan.
“They call themselves Halcyon.”
Ethan frowned.
“What is that?”
Thomas replied quietly.
“The company your father was really working for when he died.”
Olivia suddenly slapped both hands against the table.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at her.
She was trembling.
Not from anger.
From terror.
“If Halcyon knows Thomas is alive…”
May you like
She looked toward the dark driveway.
“…then none of us should still be here.”
