Chapter 12 - The Shadow of the PastWhile Clare ruled her empire from the top of Manhattan, Ethan was fighting a daily battle just to keep his head above water.
Without a clean record, corporate references, or his former wealth, landing a job in New York tech was impossible. The industry talked, and the story of how Ethan Walker had been ousted by his own wife—who turned out to be the hidden majority owner—was legendary gossip among venture capitalists and startup founders.
He eventually found work as a night-shift inventory clerk at a mid-sized logistics warehouse in Long Island City. It was grueling, unglamorous work. He spent eight hours a night scanning barcodes, lifting heavy crates, and listening to the monotonous hum of forklift engines.
His hands, once accustomed to expensive watches and custom fountain pens, were now calloused, bruised, and constantly smelling of cardboard and dust.
One night, while stacking a pallet of industrial electronics, a younger warehouse supervisor tossed a shipping manifest onto Ethan’s clipboard.
"Hey, Walker. Make sure these components get loaded onto the morning truck for Bennett-Walker Tech," the supervisor barked, not even looking up. "They’re building some massive green-energy campus in Brooklyn. High-priority client. Don't mess it up."
Ethan froze. The clipboard felt suddenly heavy in his grip.
May you like
Bennett-Walker Tech.
Even in the darkest corners of industrial Queens, he couldn't escape her name. It was stamped on boxes, flashed across financial news channels in the breakroom, and whispered by men who had no idea that the broken-down clerk standing before them used to own the very patents they were shipping.
