Chapter 4 - The Corporate Retaliation
Ethan flinched as if Noah had struck him with a physical blow. He turned toward our son, bewildered and overwhelmed by the sharp intellectual bite coming from a child who shared his face.
""Noah... buddy,"" Ethan started tentatively.
""Please don't call me buddy. We haven't established that level of rapport,"" Noah replied smoothly, closing his laptop. ""Currently, you are an adverse party in active civil proceedings regarding backdated child support, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraud.""
Ethan buried his face in his hands, sinking down onto the edge of an armchair. ""Claire, listen to me. When I made my first million five years ago, I hired three separate private detective agencies to locate you. They all came back with dead ends. My mother... she had her lawyers run interference. She bribed the agencies to report that you had moved to Europe and married an Italian banker. She orchestrated everything to keep us apart!""
""And you believed her because it was convenient,"" I snapped, turning around to face him. ""Because it allowed you to play the tragic, lonely martyr on television while building your glittering empire! You wanted to be the poor, suffering billionaire who gave up everything for his work. It’s great for business, isn't it, Ethan? It humanized you.""
""No!"" Ethan yelled, standing up with desperate intensity. ""I wanted a family! I missed you every single day of my life! That studio apartment... the rain... it was the worst mistake of my existence! I was broke, terrified, failing on every front, and my pride was a monster. But I never stopped loving you. Never!""
Before I could reply, the door behind Ethan clicked open again. This time, two men in dark suits stepped unannounced into the hallway outside our suite, followed by Evelyn Sullivan herself. She had changed into a sharp black skirt-suit, her eyes icy and ruthless. Behind her stood Arthur Sterling, the notorious chairman of Sullivan Group’s board of directors.
""That's enough groveling, Ethan,"" Evelyn said sharply, stepping past Lucas without even glancing at him. ""You’ve made a complete fool of yourself on international television. We’re putting an end to this circus right now.""
Arthur Sterling stepped into the room, tossing a heavy leather folder onto the glass coffee table. ""Ms. Sullivan—or whatever your legal name is now. I am Arthur Sterling. As chairman of the board, my job is to protect shareholder value. Your little theatrical stunt cost our company a quarter-billion dollars in pre-market valuation.""
""Good,"" Noah piped up from the couch. ""It means your market pricing was overinflated based on personal branding rather than real asset yields.""
Sterling glared at Noah in astonishment, then cleared his throat angrily. ""We are prepared to offer you five million dollars in immediate cashier's checks. Full nondisclosure agreement. The children will be enrolled in an elite Swiss boarding school at Sullivan Group's expense. You will release a public statement claiming the stunt at the Drake was an unauthorized publicity performance for an upcoming documentary. You sign, take the money, and leave Chicago tonight.""
""And if I refuse?"" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.
May you like
Evelyn smiled with chilling satisfaction. ""If you refuse, my dear, Sullivan Group’s legal war chest of two hundred million dollars will bury you. We will file fraud charges, declare you an unfit mother, tie you up in custody battles until your children are middle-aged, and take those twins away from you permanently.""
Ethan froze. He slowly turned his head toward his mother, his expression darkening into something terrifying. ""What did you just say?""
