Chapter 4 - THE SPIDER IN THE CORNER OFFICE
The digital clock on the nightstand glowed 6:15 PM as Ethan paced the length of the hotel suite, his long strides eating up the floorboards. The easy confidence of the billionaire who had stepped out of the elevator earlier was entirely gone; in its place stood a man driven by cold, calculated vengeance.
“It had to be someone with internal clearance,” Ethan muttered, stopping by the window to stare down at the bustling Manhattan traffic. “Only three people besides myself had master access to my private study at the penthouse: my executive assistant Marcus, my head of security Vance, and... Victoria.”
“Victoria?” I crossed my arms, leaning against the back of the sofa. “She was barely in your life back then, wasn't she? You said your families had been pushing you together, but you hadn't committed.”
“On paper, no. But her father, Richard Hayes, holds thirty percent of Blackwood Holdings’ preferred stock,” Ethan explained, turning to face me, his jaw clenched tight. “If I married Victoria, the Hayes and Blackwood conglomerates merged into a single trillion-dollar monopoly. If I married you—an independent graphic designer with no corporate backing—the board’s old guard would have fought me tooth and nail for control.”
“So to them, I wasn't just a girlfriend. I was a hostile takeover threat,” I said, the bitter reality sinking into my bones.
“Exactly,” Ethan said, walking over and stopping just a foot away from me. His gaze was intense, searching my face as if memorizing every feature he had missed for thirty months. “Marcus managed my correspondence. He ordered my stationery, sorted my mail, and handled my schedule. If someone wanted to forge my signature and imitate my handwriting, Marcus would have had access to my old notebooks, my memos, everything.”
“Then why hasn't Marcus come forward?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “If he’s still your executive assistant, wouldn’t he have told you?”
“Marcus retired six months ago,” Ethan said, his eyes narrowing. “Suddenly bought a luxury estate in Palm Beach, stepped down citing ‘personal health reasons,’ and hasn't answered a single one of my calls since.”
I felt a cold drop of water hit my spine. “He was paid off.”
“Bought and paid for by the Hayes family,” Ethan growled, his fists clenching at his sides. “Richard Hayes orchestrated this entire thing. He played us against each other while we were both too young, too vulnerable, and too trusting to see the strings being pulled.”
Before I could answer, a sharp, urgent knock rattled the suite door.
We both froze.
“Ethan?” Victoria’s voice filtered through the wood, high-pitched and laced with suppressed hysteria. “Ethan, open this door right now! Security downstairs just told me you haven't left this floor, and I know you’re in there with that—that woman!”
Ethan let out a long, heavy sigh, running a hand over his face before walking over to the door and throwing it open wide.
Victoria stood in the doorway, her chest heaving, her diamond necklace flashing under the hallway lights. She looked past Ethan immediately, her eyes locking onto me standing by the sofa.
“Have you lost your absolute mind?” Victoria shrieked, stepping uninvited into the room. “We have three hundred guests downstairs waiting for our engagement announcement! My father is downstairs pouring champagne for the board of directors! And you are holed up in a hotel room with a random gold-digger and some brat?”
“Watch your mouth, Victoria,” Ethan said, his voice dropping into a register so chillingly low that the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Victoria stopped dead in her tracks, blinking in shock at the venom in his tone. “What... what did you say to me?”
“I said, watch your mouth,” Ethan repeated, stepping forward until he towered over her. “And you can go downstairs, tell your father, and tell every single investor that the engagement is canceled.”
The color drained from Victoria’s face so fast it looked as if she had been slapped across both cheeks.
“Canceled?” she whispered, her voice cracking in utter disbelief. “You... you can’t cancel. We are getting married in two months! The invitations are already sent! The press is downstairs!”
“Try me,” Ethan said coldly. “And while you’re at it, tell your father that I know about Marcus. I know about the Palm Beach estate. And I know about the forged letter from two and a half years ago.”
Victoria’s knees seemed to buckle slightly. She grabbed the edge of the doorframe to steady herself, her eyes darting nervously toward me and then back to Ethan. But true to her upbringing, she recovered her composure with terrifying speed, smoothing down the front of her silk dress with trembling fingers.
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“You have no proof of anything,” Victoria hissed, her voice dropping venomously. “You’re throwing away a multi-billion-dollar merger over a stray cat and a bastard child? The board will tear you apart, Ethan. My father will bury you so deep in litigation you’ll never see daylight again.”
“Let them try,” Ethan said, stepping back and pointing toward the hallway. “Get out of my sight before I have security throw you out of this building.”
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