Chapter 12 - The Only Problem
Ethan didn’t speak for several seconds.
Then he looked at Preston.
“You said that?”
Preston shrugged.
“This is emotional nonsense.”
“You said my mother was a problem.”
“I said she had influence over you.”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“Not tonight.”
Preston frowned.
“What?”
“She didn’t have influence over me tonight.”
His voice cracked.
“I let Caroline mock her.”
He looked at me.
“I sat there.”
I said nothing.
He turned back.
“I didn’t defend her.”
“Ethan—”
“And she still stopped you from taking my money.”
Preston’s mouth tightened.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“For the first time all night, I’m not.”
He removed his wedding ring.
Caroline gasped.
“Ethan.”
He held the ring between two fingers.
“I don’t know what happens to us.”
She cried harder.
“Please don’t do this.”
“I’m not filing anything tonight.”
Hope flickered across her face.
“But I’m not going on the honeymoon.”
It disappeared.
“I need space.”
“From me?”
“From all of this.”
He put the ring into his pocket.
Caroline covered her mouth.
Preston said, “You are throwing away your marriage over paperwork.”
Ethan turned.
“No.”
His voice became cold.
“I’m questioning my marriage because my wife gave you access to my private finances, helped you hide a million-dollar request, and watched me sign something I didn’t understand.”
He looked at Caroline.
“If we survive this, it’ll be because you tell me the truth from now on.”
She nodded desperately.
“I will.”
“Even when your father doesn’t like it?”
She looked at Preston.
For the first time in her life, maybe, she didn’t seek his approval.
“Yes.”
Preston laughed.
“You’re both children.”
Diane appeared behind him.
“No, Preston.”
We turned.
She had changed out of her formal heels and was holding a folder.
“You are.”
His face tightened.
“What are you doing?”
Diane placed the folder on the table.
“My attorney is on the phone.”
Preston stared.
“Your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Since when do you have an attorney?”
“Since forty-five minutes ago.”
Marlene raised one eyebrow.
I almost smiled.
Diane opened the folder.
“I’m freezing every jointly controlled account I legally can until I understand what you’ve done.”
Preston’s face went purple.
“You cannot—”
“I can.”
“You’ll kill the company.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You already did that.”
Preston turned toward me.
“This is because of you.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I pointed toward the envelope still sitting on the table.
“This started long before I opened my purse.”
He picked up the envelope.
For one second, I thought he might tear it.
Instead he stared at the handwritten name on the front.
M. Hale.
Then he looked at me.
“You’re going to close the purchase, aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Everyone waited.
Finally I said:
“Not under the current terms.”
His face went blank.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
“It means tomorrow morning, we renegotiate.”
And for the first time all night, Preston Whitmore looked afraid of me for the right reason.
