Chapter 6 - The Cleansing Storm
By 8:00 PM, the estate was quiet again.
The guests had left in stunned silence, the catering crew had cleaned up the salon, and the red sunset over Lake Washington had faded into a deep, indigo twilight.
Ethan sat alone in his private study.
The blue Zenith file was back in the lower left drawer, locked securely. The biometric keypad had been reprogrammed, and his security team was conducting a complete sweep of the entire property to ensure no other bugs or devices had been left behind.
A soft knock sounded at the open oak door.
Ethan turned his head. Eleanor stood in the doorway, holding a warm mug of tea. She looked older, her face lined with the deep grief of realizing how close her family had come to absolute ruin.
"Ethan?" she asked softly.
"Come in, Mom," Ethan said, standing up to pull out a leather armchair for her.
Eleanor sat down, placing the mug on the mahogany desk. She looked around the quiet room, her eyes welling with tears. "I am so sorry, Ethan. I pushed you to marry her. I was so taken with her background, her family's name, her charity work... I pushed you into this."
Ethan walked around the desk and crouched beside her chair, taking her hands in his. "Mom, stop. You didn't know. None of us knew. She was a professional."
"If it wasn't for Sarah's little girl..." Eleanor whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. "If that child hadn't spoken up in front of everyone..."
"I know," Ethan said quietly.
"What happens now?" she asked. "With the merger? With the Pierces?"
"The SEC frozen their accounts an hour ago," Ethan said smoothly. "Julian and Vanessa are currently being processed at the federal holding facility in downtown Seattle. The Zenith merger is proceeding on schedule, and Caldwell-Reed’s stock price will actually increase once the Pierce short-position is liquidated by federal regulators."
Eleanor took a deep breath, squeezing his hand. "And Sarah? How is she?"
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"She's scared," Ethan said. "She thinks the Pierce family’s lawyers are going to come after her."
Ethan stood up, his jaw setting into a line of absolute determination. "I’m going to make sure nobody ever touches Sarah or Lily again."
