Chapter 6 - The UnravelingMadison grabbed her designer handbag, her hands visibly shaking, and bolted toward the hallway where Ethan had disappeared ten minutes earlier.
David Chen followed closely behind, looking like a man who had just accidentally detonated a bomb.
My mother leaned back against her seat, a slow, triumphant smile finally breaking through her guarded expression. "Well," she said softly, raising her glass of sparkling water toward me. "That was faster than even you predicted."
"That was just the warm-up, Mom," I replied, resting my hand gently over my stomach. "The real show doesn't start until the bank statement arrives."
Ten minutes later, the double doors of the private hallway swung open, and Ethan emerged.
He looked like a man who had just been hit by a freight train. His tie was pulled loose, his collar button undone, and his face was a deathly shade of gray. Gone was the arrogant, polished corporate executive who had smirked at me across the courthouse courtyard. In his place stood a desperate, cornered animal.
Madison trailed behind him, her eyes wide with panic and disbelief, her voice sharp and shrill enough to cut through the quiet dining room ambiance.
"What do you mean, Ethan? What do you mean frozen?!" she hissed, grabbing his arm as he tried to storm toward the exit. "Your accounts! The apartment! The trust disbursement! It was supposed to clear today!"
"Shut up, Madison! Just shut up!" Ethan roared, wheeling around in front of the entire restaurant, his face contorted in absolute fury.
The entire dining room went dead silent. Conversations halted. Forks froze halfway to mouths.
Madison recoiled as if she had been physically struck, her mouth dropping open. "Don't you dare snap at me! We just got married forty-five minutes ago! You promised me—you swore to me that everything was secure! That your ex-wife was walking away with nothing!"
"She did walk away with nothing!" Ethan yelled, his voice cracking with rising hysteria. "At least, that's what the paperwork said! But the corporate audit division just called me—they’re launching a full forensic review of my discretionary accounts, my offshore holdings, and... and..."
He stopped, his breath catching in his throat as his frantic eyes scanned the room, suddenly landing on our corner table.
His gaze locked onto mine.
For a long, agonizing moment, time seemed to stand still in the restaurant. Ethan stared at me sitting quietly behind the cascading orchids, slowly sipping my iced tea, completely unbothered by the chaos unfolding around him.
The realization hit him with the force of a tidal wave.
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All the pieces clicked together in his terror-stricken brain: the calm demeanor, the lack of tears during the divorce settlement, the strange, knowing smile I had given him as he walked out of the courthouse.
"You..." Ethan whispered, his voice trembling as he took a slow, unsteady step toward our table. "You knew."
