Chapter 5 - THE DEAL BEHIND THE VOWS
Ethan looked at Richard.
“What promise?”
Richard’s mouth tightened.
Victoria laughed once.
“Now he cares about honesty.”
“Victoria.”
“No.”
She pulled off her veil.
“You want truth?”
She turned to the room.
“Let’s have truth.”
Richard stepped toward her.
“Do not.”
“Your father needed my family’s banking network.”
Ethan frowned.
“For what?”
“To cover the liquidity hole in Cole Infrastructure.”
Ethan went still.
“What liquidity hole?”
Richard said, “A temporary issue.”
Victoria smiled.
“Two hundred eighty million dollars is temporary?”
The board members in the front row began whispering.
Ethan looked at his CFO.
“Marcus?”
Marcus Bennett looked sick.
Richard snapped, “Say nothing.”
Ethan’s stare moved to him.
“Marcus.”
The CFO swallowed.
“There are loans.”
“How many?”
“Several.”
“Secured by what?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The redevelopment portfolio.”
Ethan’s pulse climbed.
“Dad, you leveraged projects without board approval?”
Richard said, “I was saving the company.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“And my father agreed to refinance the debt if I became Mrs. Ethan Cole.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You agreed to marry me as part of a business deal?”
“I loved you.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked away.
Rosa quietly began leading Lily toward the service doors.
Ethan saw them.
“Rosa.”
She stopped.
He took one step toward her.
“I need to talk to you.”
“You need to deal with your family.”
“You are my family.”
The words came out before he could stop them.
Rosa’s face changed.
Lily looked up at her mother.
Richard scoffed.
“Don’t be absurd.”
Ethan turned.
“She’s my daughter.”
“And that does not make Rosa your wife.”
“I didn’t say it did.”
“But you’re thinking like a guilty man.”
Rosa stiffened.
Ethan said, “I’m thinking like a father who just lost three years.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“You lost nothing. You built an empire.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Lily learned to walk while I was signing contracts.”
No one spoke.
“She said her first word while I was on private jets.”
His voice cracked.
“She got sick. She had birthdays. She cried at night. She probably asked where her dad was.”
Rosa looked away.
Ethan saw that.
“She did, didn’t she?”
Rosa whispered, “Once.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That some dads live far away.”
His eyes closed.
That was when Lily tugged Rosa’s hand.
“I asked more than once.”
Rosa looked down in surprise.
Lily’s lip trembled.
“I asked Grandma too.”
Rosa froze.
“What?”
Lily pointed toward Richard.
“That grandpa man came to see me.”
Ethan’s head snapped up.
Richard went pale.
Rosa whispered, “Lily, what did you say?”
The little girl pointed again.
“He gave Miss Amy money.”
May you like
Richard’s face changed.
And Ethan knew this nightmare had another layer.
