Chapter 10 - THE VIDEO THAT SURVIVED
Rosa stared at Dane.
“That never happened.”
Dane nodded.
“I know.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Dane spoke quickly now.
“Richard wanted a video that made it look like she accepted money.”
Rosa remembered.
Three years earlier.
A café.
Richard sitting across from her.
An envelope pushed across the table.
She had shoved it back.
“You recorded us.”
Dane nodded.
“From across the street.”
Richard had tried to buy her silence.
Fifty thousand dollars.
Rosa had refused.
But if the video was cut carefully, it could appear she took the envelope.
Ethan’s voice went dangerously calm.
“Dad used that to convince me she left for money?”
Dane looked at him.
“Yes.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
He remembered the day perfectly.
Richard had shown him a short clip.
Rosa sitting at a café table.
Richard sliding over an envelope.
Rosa placing her hand on it.
Clip ends.
No sound.
No context.
Ethan had been furious.
Humiliated.
He had believed it.
“I was an idiot.”
Rosa looked at him.
“You were manipulated.”
“I still believed it.”
Dane said, “There was a full recording.”
Agent Shaw asked, “Where?”
“I was ordered to wipe it.”
“Did you?”
Dane hesitated.
“Not completely.”
Victoria whispered, “You kept a copy?”
Dane looked at her.
“I keep insurance.”
The agent almost smiled.
“Smart.”
“Not really.”
Dane reached into his jacket slowly.
A guard stopped him.
“My phone.”
The agent took it.
Dane gave a password.
Inside a hidden cloud folder was the full video.
The ballroom television screens were still connected to the wedding media system.
Ethan looked at Shaw.
“Play it.”
Richard was brought back into the room.
“No.”
Ethan faced him.
“Yes.”
The video filled the giant screen.
Rosa appeared three years younger.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Richard sat opposite her.
He pushed an envelope forward.
“You take this and disappear.”
Rosa pushed it back.
“I don’t want your money.”
“You want Ethan.”
“I want him to know about his child.”
“He has a future.”
“So does this baby.”
Richard leaned closer.
“If you care about Ethan, you will leave him alone.”
Rosa stood.
“I’m not asking permission.”
The video ended.
No one spoke.
Ethan looked at Rosa.
She was crying silently.
Not dramatically.
Just tears sliding down a face that had held too much for too long.
He crossed the room.
“I’m sorry.”
Rosa wiped her cheek.
“Not here.”
“I believed him.”
“I know.”
“I should’ve known you better.”
“Yes.”
That one hurt.
But he accepted it.
Richard scoffed.
“You’re all acting as if I killed someone.”
Ethan turned.
“You erased three years of my daughter’s life.”
“I preserved your career.”
Ethan walked toward him.
Richard lifted his chin.
“What are you going to do?”
Ethan took off the gold watch his father had given him when he became CEO.
He placed it in Richard’s hand.
“Take your legacy.”
Then he looked at Agent Shaw.
“And take him.”
Richard’s face finally cracked.
“Ethan.”
May you like
But Ethan had already turned away.
Behind him, handcuffs clicked.
