Chapter 18 - THE RECKONING OF ETHAN
Ethan couldn't meet his father's eyes. He stood up quickly, intending to walk back inside, unable to bear the old man's presence.
"Sit down, Ethan," Richard commanded quietly.
Ethan stopped in his tracks, his breath hitching, but he slowly sat back down on the outdoor lounge chair, staring at the stone deck beneath his feet.
"I am resigning from Whitmore Global on Monday," Ethan stammered, his knuckles white as he gripped his knees. "I’ll sign over my voting rights to Victoria. I’ll leave Connecticut. I'll do whatever you want me to do."
Richard walked over, resting both hands on the handle of his cane as he stood before his son.
"You think running away fixes what you broke, Ethan?" Richard asked, his deep voice carrying a weight that made Ethan flinch. "You think stepping down makes you a man?"
"I struck you, Father!" Ethan sobbed, finally looking up, his face contorted in agony. "In front of the servants, in front of Victoria! How do you look at me without hating me?!"
Richard looked down at his son for a long, heavy moment. He remembered the night in Greenwich—the scattered buttons on the floor, the sting across his cheek, and the absolute betrayal he had felt in that moment.
"I was angry, Ethan," Richard admitted, his eyes softening slightly. "I was heart-broken that I had raised a son who trusted a six-month marriage more than a thirty-year bond. But I never hated you."
Richard reached out, placing a firm, heavy hand on Ethan’s trembling shoulder.
"You are going to stay at the firm," Richard declared. "Not as Chairman. Not as an executive. You will start at the bottom of the risk management division, and you will spend the next five years learning how to audit every single contract this company signs."
May you like
Ethan stared at his father in disbelief. "Father... after everything I did..."
"A Whitmore doesn't run from his mistakes, Ethan," Richard said firmly. "He fixes them."
