Chapter 2 - The Shattered Mirage
Ethan stared at his father, stunned into silence by the sheer fury in the old man's eyes. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled the leather folder toward him and flipped back the heavy cover.
Inside lay eleven yellowed envelopes, their paper worn thin at the edges, stamped with international postmarks dating back seven long years. Glued to the top sheet were high-resolution copies of original hospital records—and a grainy, black-and-white ultrasound photo dated the exact week Ethan had been lying in an induced coma following his sports car crash in England.
Ethan’s breathing hitched. His eyes scanned the delicate, slanted handwriting on the envelopes. He recognized it instantly. It was mine. The handwriting he had searched for across two continents before bitterness took root in his heart.
He picked up the first letter, his fingers trembling violently.
Ethan, please call me the moment you wake up. The doctors say our baby is healthy and growing strong. I’m scared, but I’m waiting for you at the apartment...
"This... this is impossible," Ethan whispered, the color draining entirely from his face. "She never called. She took the ten-million-dollar severance check from my assistant and vanished. She never sent these."
"She didn't take a single cent," Richard said coldly. "She sent those letters to your private estate in Kensington. Every single one was signed for upon delivery. But you never saw them because someone ensured they were burned in the incinerator before you woke up."
Victoria took a sudden step back, her high heels clicking loudly against the tile. "Richard, please... this is ridiculous! Someone is setting us up! Clara obviously fabricated those documents to ruin our wedding!"
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"I didn't ask for your input, Victoria," Richard snapped, turning a razor-sharp glare toward her. "My private investigators spent three weeks pulling international postal receipts, recovered security footage from the London estate, and private bank logs. Do you want me to read aloud the wire transfer your father made to Ethan’s former chief of security seven years ago?"
Ethan snapped his head around to look at his fiancée. The color had completely vanished from Victoria's face, her lips parting in horror.
