Chapter 5 - THE CELL
Two weeks later, the media circus surrounding Ethan Caldwell’s spectacular downfall had reached a fever pitch. His face was splashed across every major news network. The "Wedding Crasher Hacker" story had gone viral, turning Noah into an anonymous internet legend, though the police and the Sterling family had spent a fortune ensuring my son's name and face were kept strictly out of the press for his safety.
I sat in the visitor’s room of the federal detention center. The room was bleak, painted a depressing shade of institutional gray, divided by thick panes of bulletproof glass.
A heavy steel door opened, and Ethan was escorted into the room by a guard. He wore a baggy orange jumpsuit. His hair, usually slicked back and immaculate, was thinning and greasy. His face was hollow, aged ten years in just fourteen days. The arrogant, untouchable lawyer who had laughed at me and called me "trash" was completely gone. In his place was a broken, terrified shell of a man.
He sat down and picked up the heavy black telephone receiver. I picked up mine.
"Sarah," he rasped, his voice trembling. He pressed his hand against the glass. "Please. You have to help me. You have to tell them I'm a good father. If I don't get character witnesses, they're going to give me twenty years."
I looked at him, feeling absolutely nothing. No anger, no sadness, no pity. Just a profound, liberating emptiness.
"You aren't a good father, Ethan," I said, my voice steady and cold. "A good father doesn't steal from his family. A good father doesn't abandon his child to play billionaire. You dug this grave with your own greed."
"I was going to come back for him!" Ethan cried, tears spilling over his eyelashes. "Once the money was clean, I was going to set up a trust for Noah! I swear to God, Sarah!"
"Stop lying," I snapped, cutting through his pathetic performance. "Noah read your private emails, Ethan. You called him a 'temporary anchor' in your messages to Lila. You were planning to move to Switzerland and cut all contact with us."
Ethan froze. His jaw trembled, realizing that every single secret he had ever typed was now out in the open.
"Lila's father hired a team of lawyers to ensure you never see the light of day," I continued calmly. "Your partners have all testified against you. You have nothing left."
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"Please," he whimpered, sliding his hand down the glass. "I have nothing. I'm begging you."
"Goodbye, Ethan," I said. I stood up and hung the receiver back on the cradle, cutting off his frantic voice. I turned my back on him and walked out of the room, not looking back even once as he pounded his fists uselessly against the reinforced glass.
