Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Harper

Ethan didn’t show up again for nearly a month, and in that time, life at the mansion settled into something closer to peaceful than I’d ever expected it could become.

Lily started first grade that September, and Damian took the morning off work entirely, insisting on walking her to the car himself despite Mason’s raised eyebrows about a rescheduled board call.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, watching him adjust Lily’s backpack for the third time.

“Yes, I did.”

“The Peterson call—”

“Can wait.” He crouched down to Lily’s height, straightening her collar with more care than I’d ever seen him show a business document. “You have everything?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes.”

“Extra pencils, in case you break one?”

“Dad.” Lily’s exasperation was almost comical. “I’m going to be late.”

He laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before letting her climb into the car. I watched the whole exchange from the doorway, something warm settling permanently in my chest. This man, who once ran a business empire with icy detachment, now worried about pencils.

“You’re staring,” Damian said, walking back toward me.

“I like what I see.”

“Sentimental today?”

“Maybe.” I looped my arm through his as we walked back inside. “I keep thinking about how far you’ve come. From the man who barely looked at his own daughter to this.”

“You did that.”

“We did that.”

He smiled, pulling me closer as we made our way toward the kitchen, morning light spilling warmly across the floor. Coffee, quiet mornings, ordinary domestic routine — none of it felt like anything I’d expected when I first walked into this house planning revenge instead of a future.

Mid-morning, Victoria called, her voice carrying an unusual note of urgency.

“Have either of you spoken to Ethan recently?”

“No,” I said carefully. “Why?”

“He’s disappeared. Hasn’t answered calls in three days. His assistant says he cleared out his apartment.”

Something cold settled in my stomach. Whatever resentment Ethan carried, whatever bitterness had driven his recent scheming, I hadn’t wished this on him.

“Do you think something happened to him?” I asked.

“I think,” Victoria said slowly, “he’s finally realized how badly he’s damaged every relationship he has left, and he doesn’t know how to fix it.”

Damian took the phone from me, listening intently as Victoria continued explaining what little information she had. By the time the call ended, his expression had shifted into something more serious than I’d seen since Richard’s earlier scheming.

“We should find him,” he said.

“Why? After everything he’s done?”

“Because he’s still my son, Harper. Whatever mistakes he’s made, whatever damage he’s caused, I don’t want to lose him entirely over pride.”

Something in his voice, quiet and genuine, reminded me exactly why I’d fallen in love with this complicated, guarded man in the first place. Beneath every calculated business decision and controlled exterior, Damian’s capacity for loyalty ran deeper than almost anyone I’d ever known.

“Then let’s find him,” I said. “Together.”

Damian

Mason tracked Ethan down within two days, staying at a small hotel outside the city, apparently avoiding contact with anyone connected to the family entirely.

I drove there alone, unsure exactly what I intended to say, only certain that ignoring the situation wasn’t an option anymore.

Ethan answered the door looking considerably worse than I remembered, exhaustion carved deeply into features that usually carried careless confidence.

“What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you.”

“Since when do you check on me?”

The question landed harder than he probably intended, years of neglect and distance compressed into six simple words. I deserved that particular accusation, more than he probably realized.

“Since now,” I said. “Can I come in?”

He hesitated, then stepped aside, allowing me into a small, sparsely furnished room that looked nothing like the luxury he usually surrounded himself with.

“Victoria’s worried,” I said. “So is Harper.”

“Harper shouldn’t care what happens to me.”

“She does anyway. That’s who she is.”

Ethan sat heavily on the edge of the bed, running a hand through disheveled hair. “I ruined everything, didn’t I? The Hensley deal, my relationship with Lily, whatever chance I had left with this family.”

“You made mistakes,” I said carefully. “That’s different from ruining everything permanently.”

“Doesn’t feel different.”

I sat across from him, choosing words slowly, aware that this conversation mattered more than any business negotiation I’d handled in years. “I spent most of your childhood absent, Ethan. Buried in work, buried in grief after your mother died, leaving you to figure out approval and love on your own. I own that failure completely.”

Ethan looked up, surprise flickering behind his exhausted expression.

“I’m not saying that excuses what you did,” I continued. “The rumors, the sabotage, using Harper and me as leverage against a business deal. That was wrong, and you know it was wrong. But I understand where it came from. I understand watching everyone else receive attention you spent years craving and never fully getting.”

“So what now?” Ethan asked quietly. “You forgive me, and everything goes back to normal?”

“No,” I said honestly. “Trust takes longer than forgiveness. But I’m willing to start somewhere, if you are.”

Ethan studied me for a long moment, something vulnerable and uncertain crossing his face. “I don’t know how to be different, Dad. I don’t know how to stop resenting everyone who has what I want.”

“Then we figure it out together,” I said. “Starting with actual conversations instead of schemes. Starting with therapy, if that’s what it takes. Starting with showing up for Lily, even when it’s hard, even when watching her love Harper stings more than you want to admit.”

Something shifted in Ethan’s expression, exhaustion giving way slowly to something like hope. “You’d help me with that?”

“I’m your father,” I said simply. “It’s long past time I actually acted like one.”

We talked for another hour, the conversation raw and uncomfortable in ways neither of us was accustomed to, but honest in a way our relationship had never allowed before. By the time I left, nothing had been fully resolved, but something had shifted, quietly and significantly, toward the possibility of actual repair.

Harper was waiting when I returned home, worry evident despite her attempt at composure.

“How did it go?”

“Better than I expected,” I said. “Worse than I hoped. But better than nothing.”

“Is he okay?”

“He will be. Eventually. If he actually commits to changing.”

Harper pulled me close, relief evident in the way she relaxed against me. “You did the right thing, going there.”

“I should have done it years ago.”

“You’re doing it now,” she said. “That matters more than when.”

I held her for a long moment, grateful beyond words for the patience and grace she extended not just to me, but to everyone still struggling to unlearn years of dysfunction within this family.

“Lily’s going to want to know if Ethan’s coming to her school play next month,” Harper said eventually.

“Tell her yes,” I said. “Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure he’s there.”

Harper smiled, something proud and warm settling behind her expression. “Look at you. Actually parenting.”

“I had a good teacher.”

“Multiple good teachers,” she corrected. “Lily included.”

I laughed, pulling her closer as evening settled comfortably around us. Whatever complications remained — Ethan’s slow healing, Richard’s cautious reconciliation, Victoria’s ongoing thaw — we’d navigate all of it exactly the way we’d navigated everything else since this complicated, unlikely marriage began.