The Mistress’s Welcome, the Wife’s Exit

I didn't stand up. I simply looked at Ethan, my expression cold and unreadable. “A search warrant? For what, Ethan? Corporate embezzlement or personal tax evasion?”

Ethan swallowed hard, glancing nervously toward the doorway where Marcus stood blocking his exit. “Both... and apparently insider trading involving some shell company Tessa set up last year. Grant is screaming that you framed him. He’s telling everyone you’re unstable, that you packed up in the middle of the night because of a psychotic break.”

“Is that what he told you to say when he sent you here to find me?” I asked softly.

Ethan flinched. The guilty look flashing across his face answered the question before he could speak. He had come here as Grant’s spy, hoping to locate our safehouse, assess our vulnerability, and report back on whether I was planning to cave.

“He’s my brother, Clara,” Ethan muttered defensively, looking down at his shoes. “I had to check on you guys.”

“No, Ethan,” I said, standing up from the table, smoothing down my sweater over my eight-month belly. “You came here because you were terrified that when Grant goes down for financial fraud, your name is going to be dragged right down into the mud with him. You helped him hide assets during the initial corporate restructuring three years ago. I have the receipts from that too.”

Ethan’s face drained of all color. He staggered backward until his spine hit the hallway wall. “You... you have those?”

“I have everything, Ethan,” I said, stepping closer to him until he could see the absolute resolve in my eyes. “Every email, every wire transfer memo, every ledger entry where Grant and you skimmed contractor payouts to fund your weekend trips to Vegas. You can either walk out that door right now, go back to your brother, and sink with him—or you can sit down at this table, take a pen, and write out a full sworn affidavit detailing every single illegal transaction Grant forced you to cover up.”

Ethan stared at me as if he were looking at a stranger. The quiet, compliant stay-at-home mother he had patronized at family dinners for nearly a decade was gone, replaced by a woman who held the keys to his entire future.