Chapter 4 - The Truth He Never Wanted Her to Hear
No one breathed.
The ballroom felt smaller with every passing second.
Ethan stared at Charles.
"What are you talking about?"
Charles didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Sophia.
"May I?"
Sophia silently handed him her phone.
Charles scrolled through the messages.
His expression grew darker with every swipe.
Finally, he held the phone high enough for Ethan to see.
"You didn't just have an affair."
"You recruited her."
Victoria frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Charles took a slow breath.
"Sixteen months ago, Ethan instructed Sophia to get close to several investors during overseas conferences."
Sophia lowered her head.
"He said it was networking."
Charles shook his head.
"It wasn't."
"He wanted confidential information before negotiations."
The room erupted again.
One investor stood up.
"Are you accusing him of corporate espionage?"
Charles looked directly at him.
"I'm saying the evidence suggests he crossed lines that should never have been crossed."
Ethan finally exploded.
"Enough!"
"I built this company!"
"I created every dollar in this room!"
"And every one of you was happy to cash the checks!"
His voice echoed through the ballroom.
Board member Linda Reeves slowly stood.
"No, Ethan."
"We believed in your leadership."
"We didn't agree to become accomplices."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Now you all suddenly have principles?"
Victoria watched him carefully.
She barely recognized the man she had married.
For years, he had blamed stress.
Competition.
The market.
Pressure.
Tonight...
The mask was gone.
Charles looked at Victoria.
"There's something else you deserve to know."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Don't."
Charles ignored him.
"The transfer of eighty million dollars..."
Victoria interrupted.
"...wasn't to save the company?"
"No."
Charles answered quietly.
"It was to secretly purchase controlling shares through shell companies."
She frowned.
"Why would he do that?"
Charles looked at Ethan.
"So no one—including you—could ever remove him."
Victoria's face went pale.
"I own thirty percent of Hawthorne Group."
"You did."
Charles corrected gently.
"The paperwork was altered."
Victoria felt as if the air had been ripped from her lungs.
She slowly turned toward Ethan.
"You forged my signature?"
Silence.
"Ethan..."
Her voice cracked.
"Tell me you didn't."
He couldn't.
She closed her eyes.
The affair had broken her heart.
But this...
This shattered her trust completely.
"You stole from me."
"No."
"I was protecting us."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"You keep calling betrayal protection."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I don't even know who you are anymore."
For the first time all night, Ethan looked terrified.
Not because of the board.
Not because of the reporters.
Because he realized Victoria no longer believed a single word he said.
He stepped off the stage.
"Victoria... please."
"I made mistakes."
"I can fix this."
She slowly backed away.
"Fix it?"
"You lied to me."
"You used our marriage."
"You stole my future."
"You cheated on me."
"And now you want another chance?"
Her voice became firm.
"No."
The ballroom remained completely silent.
Victoria removed the diamond necklace Ethan had given her on their tenth anniversary.
She placed it beside the wedding ring on the podium.
"I don't want anything bought with lies."
Several guests quietly wiped away tears.
Even Sophia couldn't stop crying.
Ethan reached for Victoria again.
This time...
She stepped back before he could touch her.
"If you ever respected me..."
"...don't follow me."
She turned toward the exit.
Halfway across the ballroom, her phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
She almost ignored it.
Instead...
She answered.
"This is Victoria."
A nervous male voice spoke immediately.
"Mrs. Hawthorne..."
"My name is Daniel Brooks."
"I'm the family's attorney."
Victoria frowned.
"Why are you calling now?"
His next sentence stopped her cold.
"Your father-in-law passed away twenty minutes ago."
The ballroom disappeared around her.
"I'm... sorry?"
Daniel continued.
"Before he died..."
"...he changed his will."
Victoria looked back at Ethan.
"He left everything..."
"...to you."
The phone slipped from her hand.
Across the ballroom, Ethan's face drained of all color.
For the first time that night...
He looked genuinely afraid.
Because he knew exactly what was inside his father's final will.
May you like
And he had spent years making sure Victoria would never see it.
**END OF CHAPTER 4**
