Chapter 9 - The Choice He Could Not Buy
Ethan’s board gave him an ultimatum.
Restore the high-profit redevelopment project, reduce restitution commitments, and return Lancaster Group to aggressive expansion—or resign as chief executive.
The choice would determine the future of the company his grandfather had founded.
It would also determine whether Ethan had truly changed.
He spent the night in his old office, watching Manhattan lights reflect in the glass.
Three years earlier, he had stood in the same place and chosen a merger over Clare.
He had called it strategy.
He had called it ambition.
He had called it necessary.
Now he knew better.
The next morning, Ethan entered the boardroom and placed his resignation letter on the table.
“I will not rebuild this company by repeating what broke it,” he said.
The directors stared at him.
One of them asked, “You are walking away from everything?”
Ethan thought of Oliver’s hand in his.
Of Clare’s quiet strength.
Of every moment he had missed because he believed success would wait for him at home.
“No,” he said. “I am walking toward something.”
He left Lancaster Group with a smaller settlement than he could have demanded.
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The empire remained intact.
But it no longer controlled him.
