Chapter 4 - Shadows of the PastThe heavy glass doors of Lakeshore Medical Center slid open, and Ethan stumbled out into the cool evening air. His luxury town car was waiting at the curb, but he couldn't bring himself to get in. Instead, he leaned against the brick facade, pulling out his phone with shaking fingers.
"Marcus," Ethan said into the receiver as soon as the line picked up. "I found her."
"Mr. Caldwell? Dr. Bennett?" Marcus, Ethan's fiercely loyal head of security and personal assistant, sounded instantly alert. "Should I prepare the settlement papers?"
"No," Ethan muttered, watching through the lobby glass as Maya bent down to tie Ava’s shoelace, laughing at something the little girl said. "I found out why she disappeared. And I found out about Ava."
A sharp silence stretched over the line. "Sir... are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"She's my daughter, Marcus. Eight years old. And Eleanor lied to us. She intercepted Maya’s medical records back then. She paid Pierce to stage those photos." Ethan's knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone. "My mother orchestrated the entire thing because she didn't want a doctor from a working-class background ruining the Caldwell bloodline."
"If Mrs. Caldwell senior finds out about the child..." Marcus began, his voice dropping.
"She won't have to find out," Ethan said, his jaw tightening into a ruthless line. "Because effective midnight, the board is trying to strip me of the CEO position based on the morality clause in my father's will. They think I'm unstable. They think I'm alone. They don't know I have an heir."
"What are your orders, sir?"
"Dig up every financial transaction Eleanor made eight years ago. I want proof of the payoff to Daniel Pierce by morning. And find out where Maya lives."
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Unknown to Ethan, parked three cars down in a matte-black sedan, a pair of cold, calculating eyes watched him through binoculars.
It was Eleanor Caldwell’s personal driver, and resting in the passenger seat was a burner phone already dialing the matriarch.
