Chapter 4: The Harrington Name Begins To Collapse
I didn’t go back.
For the first time in years, I chose myself.
But Ethan came to my father’s house the next morning.
He stood outside the gate wearing the same expensive clothes that once impressed everyone.
Except now, I saw the fear underneath.
“Please,” he said when I stepped outside.
I stayed several feet away.
“What do you want?””
He looked exhausted.
“My parents are blaming me.””
I almost laughed.
“Now they blame you?””
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“I made mistakes.””
“No, Ethan. You made choices.””
He looked at me.
“I was angry.””
“You hurt me because you were angry?””
He had no answer.
Behind him, a black car stopped.
Victoria stepped out.
Her confidence was gone.
The woman who once smiled while I cried now looked desperate.
“You need to talk to us,” she said.
I stared at her.
“Why?””
“Because this has gone too far.””
I remembered her sitting on that sofa.
Watching.
Enjoying it.
“You said I didn’t belong in your family.””
Victoria’s face changed.
“That was a misunderstanding.””
“No. It was the truth.””
My father appeared behind me.
Immediately, Victoria became silent.
She knew who had the power now.
“You ruined everything,” Ethan said quietly.
I looked at him.
“No. Your choices did.””
That afternoon, my father revealed the final piece of information.
Ethan’s family had been preparing to transfer their debts through a business partnership connected to my family.
They weren’t just cruel.
They were desperate.
And desperate people became dangerous.
My father warned me.
“Be careful. When people lose control, they show who they really are.””
That night, I received a message from an unknown number.
It contained only one sentence.
“You don’t know the truth about your father.””
I stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
A photo.
A photo of my father standing beside someone from the Harrington family.
May you like
Someone who should have been his enemy.
Someone who knew a secret I had never heard before.