Chapter 7 - The Secret Behind Ethan’s Montreal Contract
“Daniel Price.”
Ethan opened the door only after confirming Daniel was alone.
Daniel looked exhausted.
“I lied to you.”
“That’s becoming common.”
Daniel entered.
He explained Margaret had first approached him eight months earlier.
She offered his consulting firm a lucrative contract if Ethan was assigned to Montreal.
Daniel accepted.
But weeks later, Margaret asked for more.
Information about Ethan’s travel schedule.
Copies of communications.
Confirmation of when he planned to return.
Daniel refused.
Then she threatened to expose the consulting payment as a bribe.
“So you came here because?”
“Because Diane Mercer contacted me.”
Claire frowned.
“Diane?”
“She wanted documents.”
Daniel showed them the messages.
Diane had demanded proof Margaret paid him.
She threatened to expose him if he refused.
Ethan called Diane.
No answer.
They drove to the address she had given.
It was empty.
A rental.
The landlord said Diane had moved out that morning.
Claire felt betrayed.
But Ethan was not convinced.
“Dad trusted her.”
“Dad also trusted Mom for decades.”
Fair point.
Daniel provided his financial records.
The payment from Margaret had come through MWC.
But another payment appeared immediately afterward.
Same amount.
Different company.
RB Advisory.
Claire recognized the initials.
“Robert Bennett?”
Her mother’s maiden name had been Bennett.
No.
The company was older.
Ethan searched corporate records.
RB Advisory belonged to Robert Walker.
His father had known about Margaret’s plan.
And he had matched the payment.
Why?
Daniel looked shaken.
“Robert told me privately to take the contract.”
Ethan stared at him.
“When?”
“Before he died.”
That was impossible.
The Montreal project had not officially existed then.
Unless Robert knew it was coming.
Daniel explained Robert had been involved in preliminary planning.
He believed Ethan needed distance from the family business after his death.
But Margaret later twisted the arrangement into an opportunity to separate Ethan and Claire.
Two plans had overlapped.
One father trying to help his son build independence.
One mother trying to control what happened while he was gone.
Claire sat quietly.
“So not everything was manufactured.”
“No,” Ethan said. “But enough was.”
Daniel gave them one more thing.
A key.
Robert had mailed it to him with instructions to deliver it only if Margaret ever used the Montreal assignment against Ethan.
It opened a storage unit.
Inside they found boxes of foundation records.
And a small safe.
The code was Noah’s birthday.
Inside was an audio recorder.
Ethan pressed play.
Robert’s voice.
“I have spent too many years confusing loyalty with silence.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The words sounded painfully familiar.
Robert confessed that he had covered Margaret’s financial misconduct years earlier to protect the family name.
That decision empowered her.
Every time he rescued her from consequences, she became more convinced she was entitled to control the people around her.
Then Robert mentioned Claire.
“Claire is not the threat Margaret believes she is. Claire is the person who accidentally forced me to become honest.”
Claire cried silently.
Robert continued.
“If Margaret ever goes after her again, Ethan must choose. Not between his mother and his wife. Between control and love.”
The recording clicked.
Then resumed.
“There is one more person involved. Ethan will not want to believe it.”
Footsteps sounded outside the storage unit.
Ethan stopped the recorder.
Someone tried the door.
Once.
Twice.
Then a familiar female voice called from the other side.
May you like
“Ethan, don’t listen to the rest.”
Vanessa.
