Chapter 10 - The Man Wearing Ethan’s Name

The bank’s security footage showed a man in a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a medical mask.

He was Ethan’s height.

He signed Ethan’s name.

And he knew the correct private code.

Only three people had ever known that code: Ethan, Daniel, and Margaret.

Margaret stared at the screen. “I never gave it to anyone.”

Ethan thought of Claire.

She had once watched him open a family lockbox at home.

“She could have seen it.”

The manager froze the frame as the man turned toward the camera.

A scar ran above his left eyebrow.

Noah leaned in. “I know him.”

The man was Paul Mercer, former security chief for Hale Hospitality.

Ethan had fired him two years earlier for quietly accessing executive travel records without permission.

“Victor got him another job,” Noah said. “Private security.”

The box had been emptied.

But Paul had made one mistake. He had left a deposit envelope on the counter with a partial fingerprint.

Police were called.

On the way out, Ethan’s phone lit up with a message from Claire.

PLEASE MEET ME ALONE. I CAN EXPLAIN DANIEL.

Jenna saw the screen. “Don’t.”

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t.”

“She knows something.”

“She also hid my child from you.”

That stopped him.

The hurt in Jenna’s voice was not jealousy. It was exhaustion.

Ethan put the phone away. “You’re right.”

He forwarded the message to police.

Claire sent another.

YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS LYING TO YOU TOO.

Margaret’s face tightened when she read it.

“What haven’t you told me?” Ethan asked.

She looked toward the bank windows.

“Your grandfather’s private ledger was not just about payoffs,” she said.

“What else?”

“It documented ownership.”

“Of what?”

“Hotels held through shell companies.”

Ethan frowned.

Margaret met his eyes.

“One of those companies legally owns thirty-one percent of Hale Hospitality.”

“And who owns the company?”

Margaret took a slow breath.

“According to the last documents I saw, Daniel did.”

Ethan stared at her.

Margaret continued.

“And after Daniel died, that ownership should have passed to his child.”

Silence.

“Daniel didn’t have a child,” Ethan said.

May you like

Billionaire’s Wife Kicked a Waitress in Front of 300 Elites—One Slap Exp...

The billionaire’s wife tried to kick a waitress in the face in front of 300 wealthy guests. But seconds later, she whispered three...

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

Margaret’s expression broke.

“Yes,” she whispered. “He did.”