Chapter 5 - The UnravelingWithin twenty minutes, the boardroom had been cleared of everyone except myself, Marcus, and Ethan.
The security guards had escorted Clara out through the service elevators, her designer heels clicking frantically against the concrete, her face hidden behind her manicured hands as the flashbulbs of reporters waiting in the lobby caught her descending in handcuffs. The story was already hitting the financial news tickers: Brooks-Sterling Enterprise Shaken by Massive Identity Fraud Scandal Involving CEO's Inner Circle.
Ethan sat alone at the massive mahogany table, looking like a shattered shell of a man. The multi-billion-dollar merger he had schemed to steal was currently unraveling under federal regulatory scrutiny, his corporate shares had been seized by court order pending asset division, and his name was being dragged through every media outlet from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.
I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the Nashville skyline as the morning sun finally burned through the haze.
"You ruined everything," Ethan muttered, his voice barely audible, staring down at his empty hands. "The merger... the company... my entire life's work. It was right there."
I turned slowly, looking at the man I had loved, supported, and carried for thirty years. There was no anger left in me. Just a cold, crystalline pity.
"You didn't build an empire, Ethan," I said quietly. "You built a house of cards on top of my inheritance, and you expected me to hold the roof up while you invited strangers into our bed."
"What... what happens to me now?" he asked, looking up with pathetic, watery eyes. "Prison?"
"That depends entirely on what the federal prosecutors find when they audit the remaining accounts," I replied. "Though I imagine 'cooperating witness against corporate co-conspirators' might shave a few years off your sentence."
May you like
I picked up my briefcase, checked my gold watch, and adjusted my ruby brooch.
"My legal team will have the divorce decree and asset forfeiture papers on your desk by noon," I said, walking toward the heavy double doors. "Don't bother packing an office. The building belongs to my family's trust now anyway."
