Chapter 8 - ETHAN'S CONFESSION
Mary found Ethan in the empty church where they were supposed to marry.
He sat in the front pew alone.
Security remained outside.
Mary walked down the aisle.
The flowers had already been removed.
Only white ribbons remained.
Ethan looked up.
“You came.”
“You have ten minutes.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Six years together, and I get ten minutes.”
“You spent at least two of those years with Vanessa.”
He looked away.
Mary sat three feet from him.
“Tell me about Michael Cole.”
Ethan’s face went still.
“My father is dead.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“He worked for Northstar.”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Ethan rubbed his face.
“My entire life.”
Mary felt the last fragile memory of their relationship break.
“You targeted me.”
Ethan looked at her.
“At first.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
“At first?”
“My father died with nothing.”
“After helping steal from my family.”
“He told me Thomas betrayed him.”
“So you came to Bennett Holdings.”
“I wanted proof.”
“You dated me for proof?”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“I approached you because of your name.”
Mary swallowed.
“But I fell in love with you.”
“Do not use that word.”
“It’s true.”
“People who love someone don’t build relationships on six years of lies.”
Ethan stood.
“I was trying to take Thomas down.”
“By stealing fourteen million dollars?”
“I didn’t steal it.”
“You authorized transfers.”
“To accounts Thomas controlled.”
“That sounds like stealing.”
“I was mapping his network.”
Mary laughed once.
“Without telling investigators?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas has people everywhere.”
Mary studied him.
“Vanessa says you want to replace him.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Vanessa thinks I betrayed her too.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised Mary.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Thomas promised Vanessa that if she helped him destroy you, he would give her evidence proving her father was murdered.”
Mary’s stomach tightened.
“She was working for Thomas?”
“At first.”
“Then what changed?”
“She discovered Thomas ordered the attack on her father.”
Mary stared.
“Attack?”
“Peter Hart survived the first crash.”
Mary remembered Vanessa saying her father died in a car accident.
Ethan continued.
“He was alive for nine hours.”
“Then what happened?”
“Someone reached the hospital before police interviewed him.”
Mary felt cold.
“Who?”
Ethan looked toward the empty altar.
“My father.”
Mary said nothing.
“Michael Cole killed Peter Hart.”
The church seemed to shrink around them.
“And Thomas paid him.”
“Yes.”
“Why did your father help Thomas?”
“Because they built Northstar together.”
Mary stood.
“Then why should I believe a single word you say?”
Ethan reached into his jacket.
Mary’s security guard immediately entered.
Ethan slowly removed a flash drive.
“This contains every transaction I copied from Thomas over four years.”
He placed it on the pew.
“I was going to give it to you after we married.”
Mary stared at him.
“After you obtained permanent voting rights.”
“Yes.”
“So you could control the company first.”
Ethan did not deny it.
Mary finally understood.
Ethan did want to destroy Thomas.
He had simply planned to become Thomas afterward.
She picked up the flash drive.
“Our ten minutes are over.”
Ethan called after her.
“Mary.”
She turned.
“Thomas didn’t take your mother because of the storage files.”
“Why did he take her?”
“Because Eleanor knows where the original Northstar agreement is.”
May you like
Mary stared at him.
“And that agreement contains the name of the third founder.”
