Chapter 4: The Confrontation

The heavy grand doors of the Vance family estate slammed open with a thunderous bang that echoed through the marble hallway.

Melanie, dressed in a crimson silk robe and sipping champagne on the lounge sofa, jumped in surprise. A delighted smile instantly spread across her face when she saw Ethan step into the foyer.

"Ethan, sweetie! You're finally home," Melanie purred, setting her glass down and gliding toward him. "I asked the chef to prepare your favorite steak tonight. I was beginning to think you forgot about—"

*Slap!*

The sharp sound of the strike cut through the air.

Melanie gasped, her head snapped to the side as she staggered back against the polished mahogany pillar. She held her reddened cheek in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes instantly.

"Ethan...?" Melanie whimpered, her voice trembling with shock. "Why... why did you hit me? What did I do?"

Ethan stood before her like a towering demon straight from hell. His tie was loosened, his jacket discarded, and his eyes bloodshot with a terrifying, lethal fury. He looked at her not with love or affection, but with absolute disgust.

He reached into his inner pocket, pulled out a thick envelope, and slammed it directly into her chest. The papers inside scattered across the marble floor.

They were medical records from five years ago—the official, unedited reports from the city hospital that Ethan's personal intelligence team had just unearthed twenty minutes ago.

"You lied to me," Ethan’s voice was dangerously quiet, vibrating with deep, rumbling rage. "Five years ago, you were never pregnant."

Melanie’s face drained of all color. Her knees went weak, and she nearly collapsed onto the floor. "Ethan... no... listen to me, it was a mistake! The doctors—"

"The doctors were paid three million dollars by you to fake the pregnancy test!" Ethan roared, stepping closer and grabbing her chin in a crushing grip, forcing her to look into his murderous eyes. "You faked a pregnancy so I would divorce Victoria! You framed her, made me turn my back on my own wife, and made me drive her out into a torrential storm!"

"Ethan, please! I did it because I love you!" Melanie sobbed hysterically, grabbing his wrist with her trembling hands. "Victoria was just a poor, useless girl! She didn't deserve you! I am the one who belongs by your side!"

"Useless?" Ethan let out a dark, bitter laugh. He shoved her away so hard she tumbled onto the floor. "The 'useless' woman you drove away five years ago just landed in North City as the Global CEO of the Sterling Group. She holds fifty-one percent of Vance Enterprise’s stock options. She can destroy me with a single signature tomorrow morning!"

Melanie’s eyes widened in horror. "What...? Victoria... the Sterling Group? That's impossible! She was just an orphan!"

"And that's not all," Ethan continued, his voice cracking slightly as a wave of immense, suffocating grief crushed his chest. He pulled out his phone and shoved the screen into Melanie’s face.

On the screen was the photo of Leo and Chloe from the airport, along with the red DNA confirmation report.

"She carried my children," Ethan whispered, his eyes burning with tears he refused to shed. "Twins. A boy and a girl. She gave birth to my blood alone, in the dark, while I was here catering to your pathetic lies."

Melanie stared at the photo of the two children. When she saw Leo’s face—a literal carbon copy of Ethan—her heart sank into an abyss of pure terror. If those children were recognized by the Vance family elders, Victoria would be reinstated as the undisputed matriarch, and Melanie would be thrown out into the streets.

"Ethan, listen to me..." Melanie crawled toward his feet, grabbing his trousers. "They might not be yours! DNA tests can be forged! She’s trying to trap you—"

"Get your filthy hands off me," Ethan growled coldly.

He didn't even look down at her. He gestured to the two heavy-set guards standing at the entrance.

"Throw her out," Ethan ordered flatly. "Strip her of every card, luxury car, and property under the Vance name. If she ever steps within one hundred yards of this estate again, break her legs."

"Ethan! No! You can't do this to me! Ethan!" Melanie screamed, kicking and flailing as the guards dragged her ruthlessly across the marble floor toward the heavy doors. "Victoria will never forgive you! She hates you! She will destroy you!"

Her desperate screams faded into the distance as the doors slammed shut, leaving the grand mansion in absolute, deafening silence.

Ethan stood alone in the dark foyer. He sank onto the bottom step of the grand staircase, burying his face in his hands.

Five years of lies. Five years of living in a cold, empty shell of a life. And all the while, Victoria had been out there in the world, bearing his children and building an empire.

He pulled out his phone again, staring at the message from his four-year-old son: *[Try not to go bankrupt before tomorrow morning, Dad. - L]*

A faint, bittersweet smile touched Ethan's lips, followed by a heavy, painful ache in his chest.

"I won't go bankrupt, son," Ethan whispered to the dark room. "And I'm bringing your mother home."

***

Meanwhile, in the grand master suite of the Sterling Villa overlooking the city skyline, Victoria was tucking Chloe into her plush canopy bed.

"Mommy," Chloe mumbled sleepily, hugging her plush teddy bear tight. "Is that tall uncle really our daddy?"

Victoria froze for a split second, her fingers pausing on the blanket. She kissed Chloe’s forehead gently. "Go to sleep, sweetie. You don't need to worry about him."

"I don't like him," Chloe muttered, her eyes fluttering closed. "He made you look sad for a second. Leo and I will protect you."

In the adjoining study, Leo was sitting in a oversized leather chair, his fingers flying across three glowing monitor screens.

Victoria walked in and crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Leo, did you hack Ethan Vance's private phone at the airport?"

Leo didn't even flinch. He casually took a sip of his warm milk. "I didn't hack it, Mommy. I simply sent him a high-priority encrypted document containing factual medical data. Technically, it was an educational notification."

Victoria sighed, though a hint of pride sparkled in her eyes. "Leo, tomorrow is a critical business negotiation. I need you and Chloe to stay at the villa with Mark."

"Are you going to sign the merger, Mommy?" Leo asked, turning his intelligent blue eyes toward her. "If you sign it, you save his company. If you reject it, Vance Enterprise collapses."

Victoria looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at the glowing lights of North City.

"I didn't come back to save him, Leo," Victoria said, her voice dropping into a razor-thin tone. "I came back to make him pay for every tear I shed five years ago."

At that exact moment, Leo's monitor flashed red. An incoming alert popped up on his security terminal.

"Mommy," Leo said, pointing at the screen. "Someone just placed a dark-web bounty contract on your life for tomorrow morning's boardroom meeting. The payment was wired from a hidden account registered under the name... Melanie Vance."