Chapter 5

MIA'S POV

I work until nine PM, documenting every shady transaction I can find. The list grows longer with each file. Shell companies, inflated invoices, kickbacks disguised as consulting fees. Dad's empire is built on fraud and I never noticed because I was too busy trying to earn his approval.

Victoria appears at my door holding takeout. "You need to eat."

"I'm fine."

"That wasn't a suggestion. Mr. Black says employees who pass out from low blood sugar are liability risks." She sets the bag on my desk. "Eat. Then go home. The files will still be here tomorrow."

I open the bag. It's from the Thai place Jason wanted to order from. My stomach turns.

"I hate Thai food."

"I know. Mr. Black wanted to see if you'd eat it anyway to avoid confrontation." Victoria pulls out a second bag. "This is actually for you. Italian."

The smell of pasta makes my stomach growl. I haven't eaten since yesterday.

"Why does he care what I eat?"

"He doesn't. He cares about patterns of behavior. You always choose what other people want over what you need. He's documenting it." She heads for the door. "By the way, your sister called the main line four times today asking for you. I told her you weren't available."

"Lily called here?"

"She wanted to know where you were working now. I didn't tell her." Victoria pauses. "Your family doesn't know you're here, do they?"

"No."

"Good. Keep it that way. Mr. Black has very specific plans and your family knowing too early would complicate things." She leaves before I can ask what she means.

I eat the pasta and it's the first thing that's tasted good in days. My phone has seventeen missed calls. Three from Lily, six from Mom, eight from Jason. There's a group text from Mom in the family chat.

Mom: "Mia isn't answering. Has anyone heard from her?"

Lily: "She's probably just busy! Don't worry Mom."

Dad: "She better not be sulking about the apartment situation."

Ryan: "Why do we care? She's twenty, not twelve."

Mom: "Ryan, that's your sister."

Ryan: "Exactly. She can handle herself."

I scroll through the messages, feeling nothing. Ryan defended me by accident and Dad assumes the worst. Same as always.

I text back to the group: "Sorry, long day at work. I'm fine."

Mom: "Work? I thought your father had you on light duties this week?"

My fingers freeze. I never told them I quit.

Lily: "What work, Mia?"

I turn off my phone without answering.

The intercom buzzes. "Come to my office, Miss Carter."

Ethan is pouring whiskey when I enter. He offers me a glass and I take it because refusing feels dangerous right now.

"You didn't tell your family you're working for me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because they'd make me quit. Dad would say it's disloyal. Mom would cry about family unity. Lily would look sad and ask why I'm trying to hurt them." I drink the whiskey. It burns. "I'd give in within an hour."

"Probably thirty minutes." Ethan sits on the edge of his desk. "So you're hiding it. That's strategic. I'm almost impressed."

"Don't be. I'm just avoiding conflict."

"Same result either way." He studies me over his glass. "Your sister is persistent. She called my personal cell twenty minutes ago asking about you."

"How did she get your number?"

"She called every Black Industries location until someone transferred her. Very determined." He swirls his drink. "She said she's worried about you. That you've been acting strange since your birthday. Anxious and distant."

"What did you tell her?"

"That I don't discuss employees with random callers and she should try family therapy." He almost smiles. "She didn't appreciate that."

I can imagine Lily's face. The practice hurt. The trembling voice.

"She'll tell Dad I'm being difficult."

"Let her. You don't work for him anymore." Ethan finishes his whiskey. "Tomorrow you're meeting with my legal team. They're preparing a case against Carter Enterprises for the Richardson merger. Your information about the bankruptcy makes it fraud if your father proceeds knowing the company is compromised."

"You want me to testify against him?"

"Eventually. First I want you to gather more evidence. The penalty fees are incentive to grow a spine, but I need you functional, not broken." He pours another drink. "Starting tomorrow, every time you successfully say no to your family, I deduct five thousand from what you owe."

"That's not how you explained it before."

"I'm explaining it now. Punishment and reward, Mia. Basic behavioral conditioning." He hands me the bottle. "You'll learn or you'll go bankrupt. Either way, I get what I need."

"You really don't care about helping me, do you? This is just about destroying my father."

"Correct." He meets my eyes. "But our goals align. You want to survive your family. I want to demolish them. We can both win."

"And if I can't do it? If I'm too weak?"

"Then you'll die at twenty-five like you did before and I'll find another way." He says it so casually, like my life means nothing. "But I don't think you're that weak. Cowardly, yes. Pathetic, absolutely. But not weak. Weak people don't come back from death."

Something in his words catches. "You believe me. About being reborn."

"I believe you experienced something traumatic enough to change your behavior patterns. Whether it was actual death and rebirth or a psychotic break doesn't matter. The result is the same—you have information I need and motivation to use it." He takes the bottle back. "Go home, Mia. Rest. Tomorrow we escalate."

I stand to leave but stop at the door. "Why did your mother never fight back? If my father stole from her, destroyed her life, why didn't she come after him?"

Ethan's expression goes completely blank. "She tried. He buried her in legal fees and NDAs until she had nothing left. She died when I was fifteen, still paying off debt from lawyer bills." His voice is flat, emotionless. "So yes, I'm using you. And I'm going to enjoy watching him lose everything the same way she did."

I leave without responding because there's nothing to say to that kind of pain.

At home, I find Lily sitting on my couch. She has a key from when I gave her one "for emergencies" last year.

"Where have you been?" She stands up, arms crossed. "We've been worried sick."

"I was working."

"Working where? Dad says you weren't at the office all day."

My heart pounds. Say something. Make an excuse. Lie.

"I got a new job."

"Where?"

"That's private."

Lily's eyes narrow. "Private? Mia, what's going on with you? First you're acting weird at your party, then you disappear for days, now you're being secretive—"

"I'm allowed to have privacy, Lily."

"Not when it affects the family! What if this job conflicts with Dad's business? What if you're working for a competitor?" Her voice rises. "You're being selfish and you won't even tell us why!"

The old Mia would apologize. Would explain everything, seek approval, make peace.

I look at my sister and see the woman who will kill me in five years.

"Get out of my apartment."

Lily's mouth falls open. "What?"

"You heard me. Get out. And give me back my key."

"Mia, come on, don't be—"

"Now, Lily."

She stares at me like I've grown a second head. Then her eyes fill with tears. Perfect, calculated tears that have worked on me a thousand times.

"I don't understand why you're being so mean. I'm just worried about you."

"The key, Lily."

She throws it on the counter and storms out, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the frames.

I stand there shaking, waiting for the guilt to crush me.

It doesn't come.

My phone buzzes. Ethan: "I have cameras in your building hallway. Security measure. Saw the sister leaving angry. Well done. You're down to thirty-five thousand."

Me: "You're watching my apartment?"

Ethan: "I'm watching my investment. Sleep well, Miss Carter. You earned it."