Chapter 5 - The Shadow of the Past
Three weeks passed, transforming our chaotic reality into a warm, joyful routine.
I officially moved into a large three-bedroom apartment on the top floor of the building I had purchased, converting the extra space into a paradise for the boys. We spent our evenings building Lego castles, cooking dinners together, and reading bedtime stories. For the first time in my life, my days were filled with genuine laughter instead of board meetings and corporate politics.
Lena had resigned from her waiting job at Laurent House. With my financial backing, she officially launched her own interior design firm, Hart & Co.—a dream my mother had systematically crushed six years ago.
However, the dark shadow of the Calloway family was not so easily erased.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon, while the boys were at school and Lena was at a client consultation downtown, a heavy black sedan pulled up to the curb outside our building.
My security intercom buzzed.
I answered it. "Yes?"
"Ethan," my father's voice came through the speaker, raspy and aged. "I need to speak with you. Alone."
I hesitated, my hand tightening around the receiver. Part of me wanted to tell him to go to hell, to press the button and lock the door forever. But looking out the window at the rain, seeing Arthur Calloway standing on the wet pavement without an umbrella or a driver, I saw a broken man.
"Come up," I said coldly.
Two minutes later, Arthur Calloway walked into my living room. He looked terrible. His tailored suit hung loosely on his frame; deep, dark circles carved under his eyes. The defeat at the boardroom had stripped away his invincible corporate aura, leaving behind an aging man whose life was built on hollow lies.
He didn't sit down. He stood in the middle of the room, looking around at the bright, chaotic space—the colorful children's drawings taped to the fridge, the four small rain boots lined up by the door.
"It's... cozy," Arthur murmured, his voice lacking its usual thunder.
"Why are you here, Dad?" I asked, leaning against the kitchen counter with my arms crossed over my chest.
Arthur swallowed hard, taking a shaky breath. "Your mother has left New York, Ethan. She moved to our house in Palm Beach. The scandal... the board members talking... she couldn't face society anymore."
"Good," I said without a trace of sympathy. "She should stay there."
"I didn't come to defend her, Ethan," Arthur said quietly, reaching into his coat pocket. He pulled out an old, faded manila envelope and set it on the coffee table. "I came to give you this."
I stared at the envelope. "What is it?"
"It's the original files from Apex Security," Arthur admitted, his eyes filled with profound shame. "Six years ago... when your mother told me Lena had agreed to leave in exchange for money, I believed her. I didn't look into the details. I let Victoria handle it because I was focused on the company." He paused, his voice cracking. "Last week, I opened those files for the first time. I found out what your mother actually did."
I stepped forward, picking up the envelope and pulling out the documents.
As I scanned the private investigator's reports, my blood ran cold.
My mother hadn't just paid Lena's landlord and threatened her job. She had staged a break-in at Lena's original apartment while Lena was three months pregnant, slashing the furniture and leaving a note threatening the unborn babies' lives if she didn't leave the state. My mother had physically terrorized a pregnant woman to force her out of my life.
My hands shook violently as I clutched the papers. "She... she broke into her home?"
"I didn't know, Ethan," Arthur wept silently, tears streaming down his wrinkled face. "I swear to God, on my life, I didn't know Victoria had gone that far. I was a terrible father to you, but I never wanted... I never wanted terror to be done in our name."
"You enabled her!" I roared, slamming my fist onto the table. "You turned a blind eye because it was convenient for your damn IPO!"
"I know!" Arthur cried out, dropping his face into his hands. "I know! And I will live with that shame for the rest of my life. The company is ruined, my marriage is over, and my only son hates me."
He looked up at me, his eyes red and bloodshot. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Ethan. I don't deserve it. But those four boys... they are my grandsons. I don't want them to grow up thinking their grandfather was a monster who approved of terrorism."
Arthur turned slowly toward the door, his shoulders hunched, looking entirely broken.
"Wait," I called out, my voice thick with complicated, agonizing emotions.
Arthur stopped, looking back at me with a faint glimmer of hope.
May you like
"You will never see them alone," I said sternly. "And you will never mention Victoria's name in this house. But... if you want to be a grandfather, you will start by apologizing to Lena on your knees. And then you will spend the rest of your life earning the right to stand in the same room as my sons."
Arthur's lips trembled. He nodded slowly, bowing his head in deep humility. "Thank you, Ethan. Thank you."
