Chapter 5 - The Wrath of the Dynasty
The elevator doors on the fourth floor pinged open twenty minutes later. The sound of rapid, aggressive high heels clicking against the linoleum echoed down the hallway.
Ethan stood outside Room 402, having just signed the temporary custody and morgue transfer forms. Lucy was sitting in the consultation alcove behind him, supervised by a kind social worker named Sarah.
Coming down the hall was Victoria Hale, flanked by two private security men in dark suits and her father’s chief corporate attorney, Arthur Vance. Victoria had stripped off her wedding veil and gown, replacing them with an immaculate camel-hair coat, but her diamond necklace remained, glittering obscenely under the hospital lights. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but not with sorrow—with venom.
“Ethan,” she said, stopping six feet away. Her voice was sharp, cutting through the hospital quiet. “You’ve made a catastrophic mistake.”
Ethan looked at her. He didn't blink. “You have five seconds to turn around and leave this building before I throw your men through that window.”
Arthur Vance stepped forward, holding up a leather briefcase. “Mr. Pierce, let’s be reasonable. Miss Hale was subjected to public humiliation today on the basis of unverified, fraudulent documents. If this reaches the press, your architecture contracts with the municipal board—contracts my client’s family financed—will be rescinded by midnight.”
“The girl is a plant, Ethan!” Victoria hissed, stepping closer, her veneer of gentility cracking entirely. “Olivia was a sick, manipulative grifter who extorted my family for years! I paid her off to keep her from dragging your name through the mud while you built your firm! I protected you!”
Ethan let out a quiet, terrifying laugh. He stepped forward, closing the distance until he towered over her. Victoria instinctively shrank back against her security guard.
“You paid her five thousand dollars a month to stay away from me because you knew Lucy was mine,” Ethan whispered, his voice trembling with contained rage. “You threatened to destroy her life. And four months ago, you stopped paying for her chemotherapy because she wouldn't sign your non-disclosure agreement.”
Victoria’s eyes widened slightly, a flash of pure panic breaking through her arrogance. “She told you that? She was hallucinating! She was a dying addict!”
“Olivia is dead, Victoria,” Ethan said flatly.
Victoria paused. For a fraction of a second, relief flickered across her face. “Then it’s over. The woman is gone. Ethan, we can fix this. We can spin the wedding interruption as a misunderstanding. Marcus can handle the press. We can put the child into a respectable boarding school in Switzerland—”
*Slap.*
The sound was like a whip cracking. Ethan hadn't hit her, but he had slammed his open palm against the metal wall inches from her ear, denting the aluminum paneling. Victoria shrieked and leaped back.
“If you ever come near my daughter again,” Ethan said, his voice deadly quiet, “I will not call the police. I will personally dismantle every foundation of the Hale family until your father is bankrupt and you are rotting in a state penitentiary. Now take your legal parasite and get out of my sight.”
Victoria clutched her coat, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “You have no proof, Ethan. The checks were private donations. You have nothing.”
“I have the safe-deposit box key, Victoria,” Ethan replied softly. “And I know about the audio recordings.”
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The blood drained completely from Victoria’s face. She turned on her heel without another word and practically ran toward the elevators, her entourage scrambling to follow.
***
