Chapter 13 - The Son of the EnemyEthan felt the floor disappear beneath him.
“Who is my father?”
Grace couldn't answer.
Robert laughed.
“You finally want the truth.”
Ethan turned toward him.
“Say it.”
Robert looked directly at Grace.
“Tell him.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“Victor Vale.”
Ethan recoiled.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father was Robert.”
“He raised you.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Grace shook her head.
“Victor was your biological father.”
Ethan stared at Madison.
She was crying.
“That makes us…”
“Half-siblings,” Grace whispered.
Madison covered her mouth.
Ethan backed away.
Everything suddenly made horrifying sense.
The hatred.
The obsession.
The manipulation.
The reason Madison had entered his life.
The reason Robert had controlled them.
He wanted the Vale and Whitmore bloodlines connected.
He had planned their marriage.
Years before either of them knew each other.
“You're insane.”
Robert laughed.
“I built two empires.”
“You destroyed two families.”
“I united them.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You used our children.”
Robert's expression hardened.
“I used what I had.”
Madison pointed her gun at him.
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You killed my father.”
“He deserved it.”
“You ruined Ethan.”
“He was always expendable.”
Ethan moved toward Robert.
“You're going to prison.”
Robert smiled.
“Perhaps.”
He looked at Lily.
“But first, the trust.”
The floor beneath Lily suddenly opened.
Clara screamed.
Lily dropped through a hidden trapdoor.
Ethan lunged.
“LILY!”
He grabbed her hand.
She dangled over a dark shaft.
Robert stood above them.
“You have thirty seconds.”
“For what?”
“Choose.”
“What?”
“Save the child.”
Robert smiled.
“Or save the company.”
Ethan looked around.
Three security systems began flashing.
One controlled the trust.
One controlled the mansion’s emergency locks.
One controlled the hospital where hundreds of employees' families were sheltering from the corporate crisis.
Robert had built a final trap.
Ethan could only choose one.
Clara screamed:
“Save Lily!”
Ethan pulled the child upward.
“I don't care about the company!”
Robert smiled.
“Good answer.”
The trapdoor locked.
A hidden wall exploded.
Robert disappeared.
Ethan pulled Lily into his arms.
Then the screens turned black.
A message appeared.
TRUST TRANSFER INITIATED.
Ethan stared.
The company was gone.
Whitmore Systems had transferred ownership.
Not to Robert.
Not to Lily.
Not to Ethan.
To Madison.
Madison stared at the screen.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why you?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't do this.”
A new message appeared.
MADISON VALE IS DESIGNATED EXECUTOR.
Then a second line:
EXECUTOR AUTHORIZED TO TERMINATE ALL CLAIMS.
Madison looked at Ethan.
“I swear I didn't know.”
Ethan said nothing.
Then Lily whispered:
“Mr. Ethan…”
“What?”
“I know who did it.”
Ethan looked down.
The little girl pointed at the screen.
“That man.”
“What man?”
“The one who taught me the password.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Lily looked toward Grace.
Then toward Madison.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Grandpa.”
