Chapter 14 - Ethan Cole’s Revenge
Z
Marcus opened the door slowly.
A young man stood in the hallway.
He looked about twenty-five. Rain soaked his dark jacket. His eyes were sharp, restless, and exhausted.
For one long moment, he and Marcus stared at each other.
Neither moved.
Then Marcus whispered, “Mateo.”
The young man’s face hardened.
“I told you,” he said. “My name is Ethan.”
Marcus nodded as if the words had physically hurt him.
“Okay,” he said softly. “Ethan.”
Ethan stepped inside.
His eyes moved around the apartment until they landed on me.
“You’re Elena Sterling.”
“Yes.”
“And that’s Leo?”
“He’s sleeping.”
Ethan’s gaze softened for half a second when he looked toward Leo’s room.
Then it became cold again.
“Your family has ruined enough children,” he said.
“My family?” I replied. “You think I’m like Evelyn?”
“I think you still own the company that destroyed mine.”
The accusation stung because part of it was true.
I controlled Julian’s shares.
I had power within Sterling Corporation.
And no matter how much I hated the name, Leo was tied to it.
“I didn’t know what happened,” I said.
“No one ever knows,” Ethan replied. “That’s how people like the Sterlings survive.”
Marcus stepped between us.
“Ethan, I’ve been looking for you for nineteen years.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“Really? Because Graham Vale found me first.”
Marcus’s hands curled into fists.
“What did he tell you?”
“That my father died because he was careless. That the fire was an accident. That no one wanted me. He gave me a home, education, a name.”
“He kept you prisoner.”
“He kept me alive.”
The words landed hard.
Ethan removed a small silver ring from his pocket and threw it onto the table.
It belonged to Graham Vale.
“I found this in his office after the FBI arrested him,” Ethan said. “Under the floorboards. Along with photographs. Reports. Everything.”
Nora picked up one of the papers.
Her face went pale.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a list,” she said.
“A list of what?”
“Children.”
The room fell silent.
Nora continued reading.
“Children connected to port employees, whistleblowers, contractors. Kids who were removed from records after accidents, arrests, or disappearances.”
My hands began shaking.
“How many?”
“Eleven.”
Arthur sat down as if his legs had failed him.
Ethan looked at him with open hatred.
“You built this.”
Arthur’s voice was barely audible.
“Yes.”
“No,” Ethan snapped. “Don’t say yes like it makes you noble. You had money. You had power. And you let them take children.”
Arthur looked up at him.
“I was a coward.”
“You were worse than a coward.”
Marcus stepped forward. “Ethan, your anger is justified. But Elena and Leo are not your enemies.”
Ethan looked toward Leo’s room again.
“I know.”
“Then why did you send the videos?” I asked.
His face changed.
“I didn’t.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“I sent the photograph from outside Leo’s school,” Ethan said. “I wanted you to understand that you were being watched.”
“You filmed Leo inside this apartment.”
“No.”
Marcus moved toward the laptop on the table.
“Then someone else has access.”
Ethan nodded.
“Graham wasn’t working alone. Even Evelyn wasn’t the top of this.”
Arthur stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
Ethan placed another file on the table.
At the top was the name of a company I had never heard of.
Hawthorne Global Holdings.
“They own hidden portions of Sterling’s port contracts,” Ethan said. “They owned the warehouse where the fire happened. They funded Vale’s legal firms and Evelyn’s shell companies.”
“Who owns Hawthorne?” I asked.
Ethan looked at Arthur.
“Your father did.”
Arthur’s face became colorless.
“My father has been dead for thirty years.”
“Maybe,” Ethan said. “But his partners aren’t.”
Inside the folder was a recent financial report.
The company was still active.
Still making money.
Still connected to Sterling assets.
And at the bottom of the document was an upcoming meeting notice.
Emergency Board Session — Hawthorne Global Holdings.
Location: Pine Ridge.
Date: Tomorrow.
Marcus looked at me.
“They’re moving quickly.”
“Why?”
“Because Graham’s arrest exposed the pipeline. If we prove Hawthorne exists, every surviving executive connected to it could go down.”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“And they know Leo is the only person who can stop the corporate transfer.”
I looked at the papers.
“What transfer?”
Ethan pointed to a clause in the file.
“An old voting-rights provision. If the Sterling trust is declared compromised, Hawthorne can acquire the ports. But only if the legal heir is removed from the trust.”
Leo.
They were still coming for Leo.
Then every light in the apartment went out.
The hallway became dark.
A voice from outside whispered through the open window.
“Fire remembers everything.”
May you like
And then the smell of smoke began to fill the room.
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