Chapter 6 - A Broken Man
The elevator doors pinged softly, and Ethan stepped into my penthouse office. The man who once walked with arrogant confidence through country clubs and high-society galas now looked like a ghost of himself. His designer suit was rumpled, his dark hair uncombed, and his gray eyes bloodshot and hollow.
He stopped a few feet from my desk, looking around at the sweeping view of the city skyline—a skyline my company now helped dominate.
"You did all of this," Ethan whispered, his voice cracking. "You built this entire company from nothing while raising three kids."
"I didn't have a billionaire mother to bail me out, Ethan," I replied, not bothering to stand up. "I had two hands, a laptop, and a terrifying amount of motivation fueled by the way your family treated me like disposable trash."
Ethan sank slowly into the leather armchair opposite my desk, burying his face in his hands. "My mother... she lied to me. She told me you signed the severance papers and took a massive payoff to disappear. She swore you never wanted to see me again."
"And you believed her because it was convenient," I said sharply. "It was easier to let me walk away than to stand up to Eleanor. You were a coward then, Ethan, and you're a coward now."
He didn't argue. He slowly dropped his hands, looking at me with desperate, pleading eyes. "Maya... please. The company is bankrupt. The board is voting on Friday to strip us of everything. If you drop the injunction... if you give us back the thirty-four percent stake... we can rebuild. We can be a family."
I let out a cold, humorless laugh. "A family? Ethan, where was that word five years ago when your mother locked me out of the mansion while I was pregnant? Where was that word when you signed our divorce decree without looking me in the eye?"
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I stood up, walking slowly around the desk until I stood right in front of him.
"There is no family, Ethan. There is only business. And right now... I'm about to execute a hostile takeover of your entire legacy."
