Chapter 9 - THE ASHES OF HIS PRIDE
A few miles away, in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment in Queens, Ethan Cole sat in the dark.
The glow of his laptop illuminated his unshaven face. He was staring at a digital article from Forbes: The Quiet Queen of Hospitality: How Grace Bennett Saved an Empire.
There was a picture of her at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. She looked radiant, powerful, and completely untouched by the chaos he had tried to leave her in. Standing next to her, looking at her with undeniable affection, was Martin Hale.
Ethan’s stomach twisted with a sickening cocktail of regret and fury.
He had nothing. His lawsuits against Vanguard had been laughed out of court. The ironclad divorce decree he had forced her to sign was the very document that legally protected her from him. He was drowning in personal debt, unable to find a job in the industry because everyone knew his success was a mirage funded by his ex-wife.
He picked up a cheap bottle of bourbon, pouring it into a plastic cup. He remembered the night, eight years ago, when Grace had found him in the dark. How much? she had asked.
May you like
She had saved him. And he had punished her for it.
Now, he was back in the dark, but this time, nobody was coming to turn on the lights.
