Chapter 6 - The Last Night in the Mansion
Ethan followed me toward the staircase.
“Evelyn, wait.”
I turned.
Vanessa stood beneath the chandelier clutching the robe closed.
Ethan lowered his voice.
“This looks terrible, but you don’t understand the context.”
“You put your mistress on my foundation committee.”
“She has communications experience.”
“You forged my approvals.”
His face changed.
That was the first accusation he could not explain as emotion.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You said she signed.”
Ethan ignored her.
“Give me the phone.”
I held it behind me.
“Grace has already sent a copy to my attorney.”
That was not true yet.
But Ethan believed it.
His eyes moved toward the service hallway.
“Grace set this up?”
“No. Your arrogance did.”
He tried another approach.
He reminded me of our years together.
Our public reputation.
The donors who would panic.
The scandal that could damage the foundation.
He asked whether I wanted one mistake to destroy everything we had built.
“One mistake?”
I looked at Vanessa in my robe.
Then at the folder on my phone.
“The affair was a choice. The forged papers were a plan.”
The mansion’s security system sounded once.
My attorney had received the emergency code.
Access permissions began changing across the property.
Ethan’s phone vibrated.
His administrative credentials had been suspended.
The front gate locked in controlled-exit mode.
People could leave.
No one new could enter without my authorization.
Vanessa stepped toward the hallway.
“Ethan, fix this.”
He looked at me.
May you like
For years, I mistook his charm for control.
Now that control had vanished, there was very little left beneath it.
