Chapter 6 - The UltimatumMaya stared at him as if he had lost his mind completely.
"Marry you?" Her voice was a lethal whisper. "Are you insane? You show up after eight years, drop a bomb about your sociopathic mother, and your first instinct is to propose a shotgun wedding to save your corporate empire?"
"It's not just about the company," Ethan insisted, stepping past her into the hallway before she could stop him. He kept his voice low so as not to wake Ava upstairs. "It’s about protection. Under the corporate bylaws and my father's ironclad trust, a recognized spouse and legitimate heir seal off any legal loopholes my mother’s lawyers can exploit. With you as my wife and Ava as my acknowledged daughter, Eleanor’s leverage vanishes overnight."
"And what about my life, Ethan?" Maya slammed the front door shut, turning on him with all the pent-up fury of the last decade. "What about my career? My peace? My daughter? You think I’m going to throw myself back into the Caldwell lions' den just to bail you out of a boardroom coup?"
"You think I’m asking you to crawl back to her?" Ethan stepped close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off him. His hand reached out, hovering just an inch from her cheek before dropping back to his side. "I’m asking you to let me burn my mother’s empire to the ground, piece by piece, with you standing beside me as my equal. Not her victim."
Maya’s chest rose and fell rapidly. She looked into his copper-brown eyes—the exact same eyes she kissed goodnight on her sleeping daughter upstairs—and felt the terrifying pull of a love she had never truly managed to excise from her heart.
"You're lying," she whispered. "You still care more about the Caldwell name than you do about us."
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"Watch me," Ethan replied, pulling a thick manila folder from under his arm and slamming it onto the kitchen island. "That’s the signed transfer of fifty percent of my personal holdings into a blind trust for Ava, effective immediately. And this..." He flipped open the folder to reveal a signed resignation letter addressed to the board of directors. "...is my resignation, effective tomorrow noon, if you say no."
Before Maya could answer, a loud crash echoed from the top of the stairs.
