Chapter 18

Early the next morning, Madeline arrived.

This time, she didn't use Ethan's access card.

Because that card had already been deactivated yesterday.

She had ordered Seraphina's bodyguards to wait by the gates, intercepting me the exact moment I prepared to leave.

"Alaina."

She stood on the steps right outside my front door.

The expression on her face was entirely different from the one she wore when she saw me at the forum yesterday.

The meticulously maintained elegance and poise had vanished completely.

In their place was a rigid, heavily guarded countenance.

"You handled things beautifully yesterday."

I stood on the upper landing of the steps, looking down at her.

"Did you come all this way just to tell me that?"

"I came to have a serious discussion with you."

"We have absolutely nothing to discuss."

"Oh, yes we do."

She took a step closer to me.

"Do you truly believe you’ve won just because you revealed your identity as Morgan?"

"Even if you combine all seven of those corporations in your hands, they don't hold a candle to a single document in my possession."

"What document?"

"Aren't you desperate to find out?"

I stared at her.

The mother I hadn't seen in twenty years.

The contours of her eyes and brows did bear a striking resemblance to my own.

But that resemblance filled me with absolute revulsion.

"If you want to talk, step inside. Standing at the threshold looks entirely unseemly."

She followed me into the living room.

Seating herself on the sofa, she crossed her legs, looking exactly like a distant relative dropping by for a casual visit.

"Lana, let me ask you a question."

"Do you know exactly how Ethan managed to secure a reduced sentence while he was in prison?"

I remained silent.

"You don't. Because he would never possess the courage to tell you."

"He pulled strings and utilized connections, spending a massive sum of money to reduce what should have been a fifteen-year sentence down to ten years."

"Where exactly do you think that money came from? It wasn't his; he possessed absolutely nothing at the time."

"He borrowed it from a certain individual. That individual later fell from grace and came under federal investigation, and the financial transactions between him and Ethan fell squarely within the scope of that probe."

"The only reason this matter was never unearthed is because someone went to great lengths to suppress it for him."

Her tone remained perfectly calm.

As if she were merely reciting a story about a complete stranger.

"So your entire leverage is built on this?"

"Not entirely." She pulled out her phone, pulling up a screenshot to show me.

It was a certified bank transfer ledger.

The originating account belonged to an unfamiliar name, while the recipient account belonged to Ethan.

The date was nine years ago.

The amount was two million dollars.

"The source of this capital is highly compromised. Ethan utilized this money as a springboard to build his empire, but if anyone were to audit the origin of these funds, the very foundation of his entire commercial empire would be fundamentally questioned."

"Why exactly do you think he agreed to let Seraphina stay by his side?"

"It wasn't because he loves her."

"It’s because he didn't dare refuse."

I stared at the screenshot.

"You’ve used this to blackmail him for two whole years?"

"We don't call it blackmail." She offered a thin smile. "We call it a strategic partnership."

"He secured Seraphina’s companionship, while I secured a three percent stake in his business and my daughter’s future prosperity."

"Everyone walks away with a benefit. The only one who suffers a grievance is you."

"But Lana, you’ve been accustomed to enduring grievances since you were a child. This is just one more drop in the bucket."

Behind me, Mrs. Higgins clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white.

My expression didn't alter in the slightest.

"Are you finished speaking?"

"Not quite."

She stood up.

"I came here today to offer you a final opportunity to settle this gracefully."

"You revealed your identity as Morgan at the forum yesterday. Splendid—you proved your capability."

"But no matter how immense your capability is, it cannot shield you from the devastating fallout once these documents are exposed to the public."

"If Ethan falls, three of your seven corporations rely entirely on his supply chain to survive."

"When he is ruined, you will be ruined right alongside him."

"Therefore, my terms remain entirely unchanged: accept Seraphina, and we will coexist in peace."

"Oppose us, and we will all burn together."

She snatched up her purse and headed toward the exit.

I spoke from behind her back.

"Madeline."

She halted.

"Have you ever calculated another distinct possibility?"

"What possibility?"

"If the materials in your hands are exposed, Ethan falls, and I fall right alongside him. What happens next?"

"How exactly do you expect Seraphina to survive? By relying on you?"

"Does your current husband have any idea that you are orchestrating these schemes behind his back?"

"The origin of that two million dollars you use to threaten Ethan—will your husband’s operations survive a federal audit once the authorities start digging?"

Her footsteps faltered slightly.

"I am someone who has never feared death. When my stepfather chased me with a meat cleaver all those years ago, I didn't even run."

"Do you truly believe a single file folder is enough to terrify me?"

"If you want to leak it, go right ahead. Let’s see which of us collapses into ruin first."

She turned back to cast a lingering glance at me.

Then she pushed open the door and left.

The moment the door clicked shut, Mrs. Higgins let out a long breath.

"Miss Alaina, how much of her words do you believe?"

"The matter regarding the two million dollars is likely eighty percent accurate. Ethan did indeed take some questionable shortcuts during his early years."

"But her threats only possess power over Ethan."

"They have absolutely no leverage over me."

"Why is that?"

"Because the tie between Ethan and me is no longer built on a binding financial interest."

"Even if he collapses, I possess my own independent foundation."

"She wants to drag me down in a total mutual destruction, but that requires me to be standing on the exact same ship as Ethan."

"And effective now, I am a ship of my own."

I pulled out my phone.

I dialed Felix's number.

"Look into the exact origin of that two million dollar transfer. Audit it thoroughly down to the absolute bedrock."

Chapter 19

Felix's investigation took a full week.

Two things happened during this time.

First, Seraphina posted an update on social media.

The attached photo was a selfie of her and Ethan at a high-end restaurant.

She leaned against his shoulder, one hand cradling her belly.

The caption read: Wherever you are, that is home.

In the comments section, several women from the socialite circle left messages.

Some sent heart emojis.

Some wrote expressions of envy.

Olivia didn't comment, but she left a like.

Second, Ethan transferred a commercial property under his name, valued at thirty million dollars, to Seraphina.

When Mrs. Higgins found out about this news, her face turned pale with rage.

"Lana, thirty million! He didn't even blink!"

"What about when it came to you? What has he ever transferred to your name all these years?"

I scrolled through my phone.

Everything he had given me was merely in name. The house was under my name, and the car was under my name, but the collateral property agreements remained with him.

If we were to truly divorce, he could take everything back with a single legal document.

But what he gave Seraphina was clean, absolute ownership.

Mrs. Higgins slammed her hand onto the table.

I did not panic.

Because the news from Felix's side was far more important.

A week later, Felix sent the results of the investigation to me.

The source of that two million dollars was entirely clear now.

It had been transferred by a man named Arthur Vance.

Arthur Vance, a business partner of Madeline’s current husband.

Nine years ago, due to a broken capital chain, he came under investigation, and Arthur fled. The transaction history under his accounts was frozen.

One of those transfers, amounting to two million, went to Ethan, who was still just a laborer at the time.

Ethan used this money as a springboard to secure his first small project.

The nature of this money was indeed compromised.

But the problem did not lie with Ethan's side; it lay with Arthur and Madeline’s husband.

At most, Ethan could be considered to have unknowingly used funds from an illicit origin.

Meanwhile, Madeline’s husband was the one who explicitly knew the money was compromised yet still authorized the transfer.

This was Madeline’s leverage.

The material she was using to threaten Ethan was actually a double-edged sword.

If it were leaked, it wouldn't just hurt Ethan.

Her own household would lose a layer of skin as well.