I looked toward my father’s photograph.
For years, I had convinced myself Ethan was arrogant but not criminal. Careless but not corrupt. Cruel in private yet functional in business. That was how women excused men when the truth cost too much to face all at once.
But tonight, he had not only betrayed our marriage.
He had tried to steal from my father’s company while his mistress staged my humiliation in front of half the city.
“Show me everything,” I said.
Nolan tapped the screen.
Emails appeared. Expense approvals. Vendor contracts. Internal messages exchanged between Ethan and Brooke. Payments hidden inside branding campaigns that never existed. Confidential client lists forwarded to outside accounts. A luxury apartment leased under a marketing budget. Jewelry purchases labeled “executive relationship development.”
Brooke had not merely slept with my husband.
She had used him like a ladder.
And Ethan, intoxicated by the admiration of a younger woman, had allowed her to climb over the backs of employees who had spent decades building the company.
Miriam closed the file. “We can remove him by emergency vote if the board receives evidence by morning.”
“Not enough,” I said.
Both of them looked at me.
“He humiliated me publicly,” I continued. “That was personal. But what he’s done to this company is larger than me. Employees will lose pensions if we allow him to control the narrative. Clients will panic. Brooke will leak whatever she can. Ethan will paint me as a bitter wife.”
Miriam nodded slowly. “Then we move first.”
