Chương 5 - the ledger in the vault
The heavy silence in the hallway felt like a physical blow. Ethan stood frozen, staring at Claire as if the world beneath his feet had just fractured into a thousand pieces.
"My father's legal team?" Ethan stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "My father loves you, Claire! He's been searching for you for six years!"
"Richard didn't know about it then, Ethan," Claire explained softly, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "Victoria used her father's influence on the hospital board to fake the authorization forms. She made it look like the order came directly from your family's executive office."
Ethan grabbed the mahogany handrail, his knuckles turning white. All those years of resentment, the cold wall he had built around his heart, the bitter belief that the only woman he had ever truly loved had abandoned him for money—it was all a magnificent, cruel lie crafted by the woman he was supposed to marry in three months.
Without a word, Ethan turned and walked down the grand staircase toward his father's private study at the rear of the estate.
The heavy oak doors of the study were unlocked. Inside, sitting behind a massive dark mahogany desk under the warm light of a banker's lamp, was Richard Blackwood. He was reviewing a thick leather-bound dossier, a crystal glass of bourbon resting near his elbow.
Richard looked up as Ethan slammed the heavy doors shut behind him.
"You knew," Ethan said, his voice trembling with suppressed fury as he walked toward the desk. "You knew Victoria forced her out six years ago!"
Richard set his reading glasses down on the leather blotter with calm, deliberate slowness. "I found out three years ago, Ethan. After your mother passed, I began auditing the hospital board's old transfer records. That's when I discovered the fraudulent discharge forms signed by Victoria's father."
"Three years ago?!" Ethan roared, slamming his palms onto the desk. "You knew for three years, and you didn't tell me?!"
"Tell you?" Richard raised an eyebrow, his calm demeanor unshakeable. "You were engaged to Victoria by then, Ethan! You had turned into a cold, ruthless corporate machine who refused to hear Claire's name mentioned in this house! If I had told you without solid proof, you would have accused me of trying to control your personal life!"
Ethan took a step back, running a broad hand through his dark hair, breathing heavily. "Where have they been living, Father?"
"In a small town near Milwaukee," Richard said softly. "Claire worked two jobs at a local school to support Noah. She refused to take a single dime from my private trust, even when I offered to buy them a home."
Richard reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small, yellowed envelope, tossing it onto the mahogany wood.
May you like
"What is this?" Ethan asked.
"The DNA paternity report I commissioned when I located them two years ago," Richard said, his dark eyes locking onto his son's face. "Noah is a Blackwood, Ethan. He is your son. And it's time you decided whether you are going to remain Victoria Hale's puppet... or become the father that boy deserves."
