Chapter 4 - The Broken Alliance
The heavy oak doors of the Cartwright estate slammed open with enough force to shake the crystal chandelier in the grand hallway.
Brielle Cartwright stood at the top of the sweeping marble staircase, wearing a red silk robe, her face red and blotchy from a night of rage. Behind her stood her father, Richard Cartwright—a ruthless corporate raider who owned forty percent of the city's private equity firms.
"Ethan?" Brielle shrieked, rushing down the stairs. "Where have you been?! Your mother said you were in the hospital! The press is swarming outside our gates!"
I stood in the center of their foyer, my arms crossed, surrounded by two of my personal security guards.
"I wasn't in the hospital, Brielle," I said, my voice ringing out clearly. "The engagement is off. The merger between Whitaker Global and Cartwright Holdings is officially terminated."
Richard Cartwright stopped dead in his tracks on the bottom step. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"What did you just say, boy?" Richard growled, stepping forward. "We signed the preliminary merger intent three weeks ago. My firm has already liquidated two billion in assets to prepare for the buyout. You don't get to walk away because you had cold feet!"
"I walked away because I discovered why my mother pushed this marriage so hard," I replied, looking directly at Brielle.
Brielle’s eyes flickered with a tiny spark of panic. She tried to laugh it off, reaching out to touch my arm, but I stepped back, avoiding her touch.
"Ethan, darling, you're stressed—"
"You knew, didn't you, Brielle?" I asked coldly. "Six years ago, you were my mother's intern. You were the one who tracked Mara down to the county hospital upstate. You were the one who delivered the non-disclosure agreements to her room while she was in labor."
Brielle went pale as chalk. The red rose flush on her cheeks drained away instantly, revealing the calculated, cold socialite beneath.
"She was a nobody, Ethan!" Brielle shrieked, dropping her soft facade completely. "She was a distraction! You were supposed to marry me! We were built for each other! Our families belong together!"
"My sons belong with me," I said flatly. "And you, Brielle, belong as far away from my life as humanly possible."
"Sons?" Richard Cartwright barked, staring at his daughter in absolute shock. "What sons?!"
"He has four illegitimate bastards with a server!" Brielle screamed at her father, tears of humiliation finally spilling down her face. "Four little street rats that are going to ruin everything!"
"If you ever refer to my children like that again, Brielle," I said, stepping closer to her, "I will publish the financial ledgers from your father's offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands that my intelligence team secured this morning. We can see who ruins whom first."
Richard Cartwright gasped, his hand flying to his chest. "You wouldn't dare..."
"Test me," I said. "The engagement is over. The merger is dead. Have your lawyers contact mine if you want to settle the cancellation fees. Good day."
I turned on my heel and walked out of the Cartwright estate, leaving behind the screaming of a ruined socialite and the pale terror of a corporate crook.
As my SUV pulled out of the estate driveway, my phone buzzed. It was Marcus, my head of security.
May you like
"Boss," Marcus said over the encrypted line. "We have a situation at your penthouse. A vehicle registered to your mother's private security firm just pulled into the garage basement. They're trying to access the elevator."
My blood ran cold. "Lock down the floor, Marcus! I'm five minutes away!"
