Chapter 13 - HE TOOK ETHAN
Every instinct told me to scream.
I didn’t.
I became very quiet.
Marcus read the text.
“He needs leverage.”
“He has my son.”
“We’ll find him.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Amanda—”
“He wants me.”
“Exactly.”
I looked Marcus in the eye.
“If I don’t go, he hurts Ethan.”
Another message appeared.
OLD CARTER MILL.
ALONE.
Daniel, still conscious on the stretcher, grabbed my hand.
“Don’t.”
I bent down.
“I have to.”
“He wants the trust.”
“He already knows it’s fake.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He wants Ethan.”
My skin went cold.
“Why?”
“Ethan is the trust.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Biometric transfer controls.”
“English, Daniel.”
“Some of the Carter shares can’t be moved without Ethan’s identity verification when he reaches certain ages.”
“He’s four!”
“They can still create guardianship documents.”
I understood.
Richard didn’t need me anymore.
He needed permanent legal control over Ethan.
Marcus arranged a covert team.
We drove to the abandoned Carter textile mill.
I entered alone.
Ethan sat on a chair near the old loading platform.
He was awake.
“Mommy!”
“Baby!”
Richard stood behind him holding a gun.
“Stop.”
I froze.
“Let him go.”
“Bring me the original trust.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Liar.”
“Richard, listen to me.”
“No.”
His eyes were wild now.
Suit gone.
Shirt dirty.
Blood dried near his mouth.
The polished executive had disappeared.
What remained was something ugly.
“You ruined everything.”
“You ruined yourself.”
“I built Whitman Holdings.”
“With my father’s money.”
“I made it successful.”
“By stealing from Carter.”
His jaw tightened.
“Give me Ethan’s rights.”
“He’s four.”
“He’ll never know.”
“He already knows enough.”
Ethan started crying.
“Daddy, I wanna go home.”
Richard looked down at him.
“Stop calling me that.”
Ethan flinched.
My heart broke.
“Richard.”
He looked at me.
“You don’t deserve him.”
Richard laughed.
“I never wanted him.”
I took one slow step.
“You wanted his money.”
“Yes.”
Another step.
“And Chloe?”
His face darkened.
“Not mine.”
“You loved her yesterday.”
“She humiliated me.”
“She’s a baby.”
“So?”
There it was.
The emptiness.
The thing I had failed to see for years.
A siren wailed far away.
Richard looked toward the window.
“You brought police.”
“No.”
“You’re lying!”
He grabbed Ethan.
Ethan screamed.
Richard dragged him toward the edge of the loading platform.
Thirty feet below was the concrete factory floor.
“Richard!”
“Back up!”
I stopped.
“Okay.”
Ethan sobbed.
“Mommy!”
“I’m here, baby.”
Richard’s shoe slipped near the edge.
I saw it.
So did Ethan.
Then Ethan did something Richard never expected.
He bit Richard’s hand.
Richard screamed.
May you like
The gun fired.
And Ethan fell over the edge.
