Chapter 5 - The Glass Castle Crumbles
Back at the motel, Ethan was frantically trying to fill out loan applications online using his phone, but every single application was instantly rejected due to his frozen credit profile.
"This is impossible!" Ethan screamed, throwing his phone onto the cheap bed. "They froze everything! My personal savings, my investment portfolio... everything!"
Margaret was sitting on the floor, nursing a headache. "Ethan, we have to call the news! We have to tell the press that a billionaire corporate boss is abusing her power to ruin an innocent family!"
"Do you think the press cares about us, Mother?!" Ethan snapped, losing his temper completely. "She OWNS the media outlets in this city! We have nothing!"
Suddenly, the motel room door was violently kicked open.
Three muscular men in black suits stepped in, followed by Victor Cross. Victor’s face was flushed dark red, his eyes murderous.
"Dad!" Chloe squealed, standing up in relief. "Thank God you're here! Tell these awful people to fix your business so Ethan can—"
SLAP!
The echoing sound of the hand strike resoldered through the small room. Victor had slapped Chloe across the face with enough force to send her tumbling back onto the bed.
"Dad?!" Chloe sobbed, clutching her bruised cheek in shock.
"Shut your mouth, you foolish, gullible brat!" Victor roared, his voice shaking the thin walls. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! You almost ruined our entire family for this penniless, lying fraud!"
Ethan backed away toward the bathroom, his hands up. "Mr. Cross, please! Let me explain! Claire is crazy, she's manipulating—"
Victor stepped forward and grabbed Ethan by the collar of his dirty shirt, dragging him forward like a ragdoll.
"Crazy?" Victor hissed into Ethan's face. "She is the President of Sterling Crest! You made my daughter an accomplice to illegal trespassing on a billionaire’s estate! You lied about your wealth, you stole from her company, and you brought ruin to my doorstep!"
"Mr. Cross, I love Chloe!" Ethan pleaded, tears streaming down his face. "We’re having a baby!"
"You're having nothing!" Victor barked, shoving Ethan violently into the wall. "Chloe is coming back to Austin with me today. She will be cut off from every cent of my estate if she ever speaks to you again. And as for the baby, my family's private doctors will handle her care—without YOUR name ever touching the birth certificate!"
"No! Dad, you can't!" Chloe cried out, but two of Victor's bodyguards grabbed her by the arms, dragging her out of the room despite her screams.
Victor turned back to Ethan, who was cowering on the floor beside his weeping mother.
"If I ever see your pathetic face near my daughter again, Vance," Victor warned in a dangerous, low whisper, "I won't wait for Claire Sterling's lawyers to finish you off. I'll destroy what's left of you myself."
Victor turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door so hard the glass pane cracked.
Silence descended upon the motel room, thick and suffocating.
Margaret lay on the carpet, hyperventilating, her luxurious dreams entirely shattered. Ethan sat collapsed against the bathroom door, staring blankly at the stained wall. In less than four days, he had lost his home, his career, his mistress, his unborn child's future, his reputation, and every single dollar to his name.
The phone on the nightstand rang again. Ethan reached up with a trembling hand to answer it.
"Hello?" Ethan whispered weakly.
May you like
"Ethan Vance?" a stern voice replied. "This is Investigator Henderson with the Harris County Sheriff's Department. We have an active warrant for your arrest regarding grand larceny and corporate embezzlement. Stay where you are; officers are en route to your location."
Ethan let the phone drop from his hand. He covered his face with his dirty hands and began to sob uncontrollably.
