Chapter 3 - The Price of Ambition
"You are insane!" Victoria screamed as the executives hastily packed their briefcases and fled the room, sensing the impending explosion. "My father will pull our funding! Blackwood Enterprises will take a massive hit!"
"Let him pull it," Ethan fired back, his voice deadly calm. He unbuttoned his suit jacket, turning fully to face the woman he had chosen over me. "I spent the last two and a half years destroying my soul to build this company into something untouchable. I let my board dictate my life. I let them convince me that a wife from a 'normal' background would hinder my ascent. I let my own lawyers draft a letter to the only woman I ever loved because I was too much of a coward to say goodbye to her myself."
He took a step toward Victoria. "I traded my family for a skyscraper. And last night, I looked into the eyes of a son I didn't even know existed. A son who has my eyes. A son who doesn't know my name."
Victoria crossed her arms, her lip curling into a sneer. "So what? You're going to play house with her? She hid a child from you, Ethan. She's a manipulative liability."
"She protected her son from a man who told her he was a consequence to be dealt with," Ethan corrected, his voice breaking on the final word. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the velvet box containing the engagement ring he had given Victoria, and placed it on the glass table. "The wedding is canceled, Victoria. Take your father's money and get out of my building."
Victoria stared at the box, her face flushing with humiliated rage. She looked at me, her eyes filled with pure venom, before snatching the box off the table and storming out of the boardroom. The glass doors slammed shut behind her, rattling in their frames.
The room fell entirely silent. I slowly packed my legal briefs back into my leather bag.
"Sarah," Ethan whispered. He walked over to my side of the table, stopping a few feet away, treating me like I was made of spun glass. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't deserve it. When my father died, the board threatened to oust me if I didn't marry into the Hayes family to secure our capital. I panicked. I convinced myself I was doing it to save the company. I convinced myself you were better off without my chaotic, toxic world."
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"You didn't get to make that choice for me," I said softly, gripping the handle of my briefcase. "And you certainly didn't get to make it for Leo."
"I know," he choked out, a single tear spilling over his dark lashes. "I have missed a year and a half of his life. I missed his first steps. I missed hearing him speak. I will carry the agony of that loss until the day I die. But please, Sarah. Please. Don't make me miss the rest of it."
