Chapter 6 - THE EXIT
Ethan didn't try to stop her. He didn't yell, he didn't beg, and he didn't follow her up the stairs. He simply sat down on the edge of the sofa, staring blankly at the manila folder filled with financial betrayals, feeling entirely hollow inside.
Richard watched his son quietly. He stood up from his armchair, walked over to the kitchen counter, and poured two glasses of water. He brought one over, setting it gently on the table in front of Ethan before sitting down beside him.
"Drink some water, son," Richard said softly.
Ethan picked up the glass, his hand still shaking slightly. He took a small sip, the cool liquid doing little to calm the raging storm inside his chest. "How did you know, Dad?" he asked, his voice cracking. "How did you know she was doing all of this?"
"Old age teaches you to pay attention to the things people try to hide," Richard replied, looking toward the ceiling where Sophia could be heard stomping around upstairs, throwing closet doors open and slamming them shut. "When a person starts showing an unnatural amount of interest in your legal documents, and when money starts vanishing like smoke, you start looking beneath the surface. I installed that pantry camera three days ago, Ethan. Not because I suspected she would pull something like this, but because I caught her going through my personal safe in the study."
Ethan covered his face with his hands, groaning in sheer self-loathing. "I was an idiot. I was such a blind, arrogant idiot. I defended her against you. I let her isolate you. If you hadn't pointed at that camera... God, I don't even want to think about what would have happened to you."
"Water under the bridge," Richard said, though his eyes still carried the faint shadow of the blow he had taken. "The important thing is that the truth came out before it was too late."
May you like
"It is too late," Ethan whispered bitterly. "I hit you, Dad. I can never take that back. No matter what happens to Sophia, no matter what happens to the money... I raised my hand against my own father. I crossed a line that can never be uncrossed."
Before Richard could answer, the heavy sound of a rolling suitcase echoed from the upstairs landing.
