LOGINI showed Ethan the message."No, " he said."I have not agreed to anything yet " I said to Ethan.Ethan said "You are not going alone. That is not a discussion."The press conference room was still loud around Ethan and me. There were journalists and cameras. Ms Adu was managing questions. Victoria was standing quietly to the side looking like a woman who had just put down something heavy and was not sure how to stand without it.I pulled Ethan into the corridor."He said come without you or my father pays for it " I said to Ethan. "He means that, Ethan. You know he means it."Ethan said "Which is exactly why you are not walking into a room with him. I know that he means it.""I am not the woman who stood at the altar anymore " I said to Ethan.Ethan said "I know that. That is not why I am saying no. I am saying no because I am not losing you to him. Not after everything that has happened to us."The corridor was quiet between Ethan and me."Not after everything " I repeated slowly to
The press conference was held at seven in the morning in the conference room of Voss Holdings.Ethan had gotten out of the hospital at five. Ms Adu had argued with him. He had ignored her. He arrived with a bandage on his head and three stitches above his eyebrow and stood at the front of the room like nothing was wrong with him.I stood beside him. Not behind him. Not to the side. Right beside him, Equal.The room was full of journalists. Cameras. People who had read the article that night came here looking for a big story.Ethan spoke first. He was direct and in control. He confirmed the deal seven years ago. He named it. He said what he had done and why it was wrong. No excuses. Just the truth.Then he talked about the resettlement funds. The secret help. Three years of trying to fix things he couldn't undo. He named the communities. He named the amounts. He named the teams he had paid without his name attached.The room started to shift.Then I spoke. I told them about my grandf
Ethan was in room 412.I went to the hospital. There were two police officers standing outside his door. They looked at me. I looked back at them. Then Ms Adu, the lawyer that Mr Osei had called, stepped forward. I talked to them quietly. They let me through after that.I opened the door and went inside.Ethan was sitting up in his bed. He had a dressing on the side of his head and a cut above his eyebrow that had been closed with stitches. He stared at me when I walked in.For a moment his face was tight and controlled. Then it relaxed a little."You filed the documents, " he said."I filed them two hours ago, " I said. "The injunction has been stayed. The shares are now in my name."He nodded, like he had known I would do it. I sat down beside his bed.We looked at each other for a moment. There was a lot to say, but neither of us said anything.Then I said, "The article.""I know, " he said.I said, "Tell me about the deal, seven years. Tell me yourself before someone else does."
Ethan's security team tracked Elena's phone in eleven minutes.She had not even turned it off which means Elena was either not as smart as I thought she was or she wanted to be found.Elena was at a hotel three kilometer from the house in a ground-floor room with the light on.I told Grace and my father to go to the hospital. I told the security guard driving me to take me to the hotel first.He looked unsure. I gave him a look and he stopped looking uncertain.I knocked on the door.There was silence, some movement and then the door opened.Elena looked at me. She did not look surprised.She stepped back. Let me in.The room was small with a bag on the bed that was half packed with her phone on the table.We stood looking at each other for a moment, two women who had known each other since we were fifteen years old who had shared everything and who had sat on each other's beds talking about the future.I did not feel nostalgic, I felt cold."The article, that was you " I said to Elena
My father's lawyer, Mr Osei, was a quiet man who had been handling the Wren family's legal matters for 22 years. He possessed the kind of calm professionalism money couldn’t buy.He did not ask us many questions when we arrived at his office at eleven at night. He didn’t ask why we all looked half-mad, or why we were breathing as if we had just run a marathon. He simply adjusted his glasses,He looked at the documents, looked at me and looked at Grace standing behind me. Then he said:"Give me forty minutes."I stared at the folder in my hands. Thought about my grandfather, Arthur Wren. He was a man I had never met. He built something with another man fifty years ago. Kept his part of it until he died. He did this for me, a granddaughter he would never know.I thought about the letter he wrote. His handwriting was neat and careful. He wrote about protection as if it were the important thing.I hoped I was doing what he wanted me to do.Mr Osei returned exactly after thirty-eight minutes
None of us brought it up.We both pretended as if nothing happened. He told everyone about the plan. I asked questions and tried to avoid looking at him.It did not work well.Every time he spoke I knew where he was in the room. Our eyes met across the table and we looked at each other for a second too long before we looked away.Grace noticed. I could tell by the way she looked at us and said nothing. Grace is the kind of woman who notices everything and says nothing.My mother noticed too.. She said something at the worst possible time.She came up to me while I was standing by the window and said very quietly:"He looks at you the way your father used to look at me before things got complicated.""Mum, " I said."I am just saying," she walked away.I put my forehead against the window and told myself to focus.Ethan's team had found Elena's address. The house was real. It matched what we were looking for.. They used a drone to take pictures, which showed people inside. Several peo
Elena stood in the doorway. She looked smaller than I had ever seen her. The Elena I knew always walked into rooms as if she owned them. She laughed loudly. She made sure everyone noticed her. This woman looked like she had been drained."Sit down, " Ethan said. His voice was not warm.. Not mean eit
Nobody slept.Ethan got his team to search the building within twenty minutes of getting the message. They looked at security footage and access logs. They checked every person who had entered and exited since we got there. Ethan worked fast and quiet. I watched him from across the room. Thought abo
Nobody moved for a time.The woman stood inside the door looking at Ethan. Ethan stood across the room looking at her.. I stood between them trying to figure out what was happening."Who is she? " I asked.Ethan did not answer. "Her name is Victoria, " he said finally. "She is my mother."The room
Ethan moved away.He was across the room before I could say a word, his hand out telling me to keep the call going. He pulled out his phone. Typed fast. I watched him send a message to someone on his team. Tracing the call I thought. I kept the phone to my ear."You went quiet, " the voice said. Sti







