Chapter 2 - The Patriarch's Secret
Victor Callahan didn't flinch. He didn't gasp, and he didn't look surprised. Instead, a slow, condescending sneer touched the corners of his thin lips. He leaned on his silver cane, adjusting his diamond cufflink with total indifference.
"I see," Victor said smoothly. "So the girl finally crawled out of the gutters to claim a piece of the family fortune."
The room temperature seemed to drop even further.
I stood up, stepping beside Ethan, my hands clenched into tight fists. "I didn't crawl out of anywhere, Mr. Callahan. I didn't even know who Caleb really was until ten minutes ago! I’ve worked three jobs for two years to feed my daughter while you sat in your tower!"
"Silence," Victor barked, his eyes flashing with disgust as he pointed his cane at me. "You are nothing more than a temporary distraction my foolish younger son used to spite me. Caleb was weak. He lacked the spine to rule this empire, so he ran away with a low-class woman and died like a dog in a ditch."
Died.
The word echoed in my mind like a physical blow. I stumbled back, clutching the edge of the mahogany desk. "Died? What do you mean... died?"
Ethan turned sharply toward his father, his chest heaving. "What did you say, Father? You told me Caleb was living in Europe! You told the board he was managing offshore investments!"
"He was an embarrassment to the Callahan name!" Victor snapped, his composure breaking into pure venom. "He found out about the offshore restructuring—he threatened to go to the federal prosecutors and hand over the family ledgers to destroy this company! I offered him a choice: take a trust fund and disappear forever, or be cut off entirely."
"He didn't take your money," I sobbed, tears blurring my vision. "He was working for sixteen dollars an hour!"
"Because he was an idiot!" Victor shouted. "He died in a hit-and-run accident in a back alley two weeks after he left you, girl! His car was swept away, his body buried in a potter's field because he refused to use the Callahan name! He brought his own destruction upon himself!"
Ethan stood motionless. The revelation that his beloved younger brother was dead—and that his father had known for two full years while lying to him—sent a visible shockwave through his body.
"You knew..." Ethan whispered, his voice cracking with immense grief and rage. "You knew he was dead. You let me search for him across Europe. You let me spend millions of my own money on private investigators..."
"I saved this family from scandal!" Victor declared, taking a step toward Ethan. "And you will do your duty now, Ethan. Call security. Have this woman and her bastard child thrown out of the building. We have a five-billion-dollar merger with the Sterling Group tomorrow morning. I will not have a street-rat ruining fifty years of legacy."
Ethan stared at his father. The cold, obedient CEO who had spent his entire life striving for his father's approval vanished. In his place stood a man consumed by righteous fury.
Ethan slowly walked over to the desk, picked up the office landline, and pressed a button.
"Security," a voice answered immediately.
"This is Ethan Callahan," he said, his voice deadpan and lethal. "I need four armed guards in my office immediately. Escort Victor Callahan out of the building, revoke his security clearance, and lock his private elevator."
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Victor’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?! I built this company! I am the Chairman of the Board!"
"Not anymore," Ethan replied softly, hanging up the phone. "You killed my brother. But you will not touch his daughter."
