Chapter 6 - Bloodline & Treachery
The chaos that erupted after my announcement was absolute.
Senator Hastings dragged Caroline toward their waiting limousine while she screamed obscenities that would have made a sailor blush, her veil tearing against the rosebushes as she ran. The wedding guests, realizing that the ship was not just sinking but had already split in half, began scattering across the lawns like ants, desperate to reach their cars before the media vans arrived at the front gates.
"Avery, wait!"
Ethan caught up to us just as my driver opened the door to the Maybach.
He didn't try to touch me. He kept his hands raised, his eyes wide and pleading, acutely aware of the three little boys watching him with intense scrutiny.
"Please," Ethan begged, his voice stripped of every ounce of pride he had ever possessed. "Forty-eight hours to kick my mother out? Fine. Give her twelve. Burn the house down for all I care. But don't take them away again. Don't take my sons away before I even know their names."
"You know their names, Ethan," I said, pausing with my hand on the car door. "Liam. Noah. Caleb. You had a chance to protect them five years ago. You chose your mother’s lies over the woman who slept beside you every night."
"I was blind!" he cried, tears finally spilling over his cheeks, unashamed in front of the lingering caterers and photographers. "I spent five years living in hell, Avery! Every time I closed my eyes, I thought about what we lost! I let her control me because after you left, I didn't care whether I lived or died! You think this wedding was my idea? She told me the company was going under, that hundreds of employees would lose their pensions if I didn't merge with the Hastings family! I sold myself to save a company I hated!"
"And look where it got you," I said, my voice softer now, but no less firm. "A company that belongs to me, and a mother who despised you enough to destroy your soul."
Liam pulled gently on my hand. "Mama? Is he going to cry again?"
Ethan dropped to his knees right there on the gravel drive, heedless of the sharp stones digging into his skin. He brought himself eye-level with the boys, his hands trembling violently in his lap.
"I'm sorry," Ethan whispered to Liam. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I didn't build you pillow forts. I'm sorry I wasn't there to hold you when you had a bad dream."
Noah stepped out from behind me, crossing his arms over his velvet vest. "Do you know how to build a trebuchet out of Legos?"
Ethan let out a wet, half-broken laugh through his tears. "I... I'm an engineer, buddy. I can build a trebuchet that shoots across the whole room."
Caleb tilted his head. "Does it shoot dinosaurs?"
"It shoots whatever you want it to shoot," Ethan said, a tiny glimmer of hope breaking through his devastated expression.
"Noah, Caleb, inside," I commanded gently.
The boys looked at me, obedient but curious, and climbed into the plush leather interior of the SUV. Liam lingered for a moment, looking at Ethan with those storm-gray eyes that belonged to both of them.
"You have to ask Mom," Liam said quietly. "She's the boss of everything." Then he hopped inside beside his brothers.
Ethan looked up at me from the ground, looking entirely broken, entirely humbled. "What do I have to do, Avery? Tell me what to do. I'll sign over everything. The board seats, the trusts, my personal accounts—take all of it. Just let me see them. Let me earn the right to be in their lives."
"Money won't buy you a seat at their table, Ethan," I said, stepping toward the car. "I have more money than your family ever dreamed of. If you want to know your sons, you need to strip away every single rot that Eleanor planted in your head. You need to prove to me that you're a father, not a Montgomery."
"How?" he pleaded, rising slowly to his feet. "Tell me how."
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"Start by watching your mother pack her bags," I said, closing the door behind me. "And if you ever want to see them again... you come to my office on Monday morning. Alone."
***
