Chapter 7 - The Collapse of the Empire"You can't do that!" Jessica shrieked, losing all professional composure as she lunged at Ethan, grabbing his lapels. "Ethan! Tell her she's lying! Tell me you didn't have a kid! Tell me we aren't ruined!"
Ethan didn't answer her. He couldn't. He was staring at Chloe with a look of such hollow, agonizing devastation that it almost looked like pity. Almost.
"Harper..." Ethan choked out, his knees trembling as he reached out a shaking hand toward our daughter. "Chloe... Daddy is right here..."
Chloe instinctively stepped behind my leg, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist and looking up at Ethan with complete indifference. "Mommy, who is this crying man?"
"Nobody, sweetheart," I replied softly, stroking her hair. "Just a stranger."
The word stranger hit Ethan like a physical bullet. He stumbled backward, colliding with the podium and knocking over a stack of commemorative brochures that scattered across the polished floor.
Victoria Vance stepped forward, holding out a thick document right into Ethan's trembling hands.
"Sign the final divorce decree, Ethan," Victoria instructed coldly. "Give up all claims to the Harper Brooks architectural firm, transfer your corporate shares back to the rightful stakeholders, and sign away your parental rights due to willful abandonment and asset concealment. Do that, and maybe—just maybe—we won't press criminal fraud charges against you and Ms. Reynolds."
Jessica gasped, her eyes snapping to Ethan in pure betrayal. "You committed fraud? Ethan, you told me your divorce was clean! You told me her money was legally yours!"
"Shut up, Jessica!" Ethan roared, finally snapping under the crushing weight of his own hubris. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't pushed me—"
"Oh, blaming the mistress now?" I laughed, a cold, silvery sound that echoed through the silent hall. "Classic Ethan. Always looking for a scapegoat when your own foundation collapses."
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I stepped down the final three stairs, standing face-to-face with the man who had tried to bury me. I leaned in close, my breath brushing against his ear so only he could hear.
"You wanted a clean slate, Ethan," I whispered. "Congratulations. You’ve got nothing left."
