She Fired the Single Dad—Then He Smiled and Said, “Check Who Owns This Building.” Everyone Froze!
Chapter 2
Melissa was reviewing quarterly reports when her assistant interrupted.
“Mr. Brooks is back.”
Melissa frowned.
“Why?”
“He asked for you.”
She sighed.
“Send him in.”
Ethan entered.
He looked exactly the same.
Old work boots.
Gray jacket.
Toolbox.
Only now his employee badge was gone.
Melissa folded her hands.
“If you’re here to argue about your termination—”
“I’m not.”
“Then what?”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
“Check who owns this building.”
Melissa stared at him.
“What?”
“The tower.”
She almost laughed.
“Grantstone Holdings owns Grantstone Tower.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Check again.”
Melissa stood.
“Ethan, I don’t have time for this.”
He smiled.
“Neither do I.”
She looked at him.
For the first time, something about his confidence unsettled her.
“Why would you ask that?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
His son Noah had once asked him why rich people seemed so confident.
Ethan had said:
“Because they usually know something you don’t.”
Now Ethan wondered whether someone knew something he didn’t.
Melissa called legal.
“Who holds title to Grantstone Tower?”
A lawyer answered.
“Grantstone Commercial LLC.”
“Who owns it?”
“Grantstone Holdings.”
Melissa relaxed.
She looked at Ethan.
“There.”
He nodded.
“That’s not what he said.”
“Who?”
“Charles Reed.”
Melissa frowned.
“Who is Charles Reed?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
The door opened.
A senior accountant stepped inside.
“Melissa, the title report came back.”
She turned.
“What did it say?”
The accountant looked confused.
“Grantstone Holdings isn’t the current owner.”
Silence.
Melissa stared.
“What?”
“The ownership transfer happened eleven months ago.”
“To whom?”
The accountant swallowed.
“The title is held by Brooks Family Properties LLC.”
Melissa looked at Ethan.
He didn’t move.
“That’s impossible.”
The accountant continued.
“I checked twice.”
Melissa grabbed the report.
“Who owns Brooks Family Properties?”
The accountant looked at the page.
“Ethan Brooks.”
The room went silent.
Melissa slowly looked up.
Ethan’s expression remained calm.
“I told you.”
She stared at him.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you the owner?”
“I didn’t know I was.”
Melissa shook her head.
“No.”
She searched the records herself.
There it was.
Grantstone Tower.
Transferred eleven months earlier.
Owner:
Brooks Family Properties LLC
Managing member:
Ethan Brooks
Melissa sat down.
“That’s not possible.”
Ethan looked at the document.
He recognized the LLC name.
His father had once used it for a small repair business.
But his father had died four years earlier.
The company should have been dissolved.
Unless…
Ethan remembered a strange envelope his father had given him.
Three months before his death.
He had said:
“Don’t open it unless you absolutely need it.”
Ethan had forgotten about it.
He reached into his truck and found it.
The envelope was still there.
He opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
His father’s handwriting.
Ethan,
If you ever have to choose between money and dignity, choose dignity.
If someone tries to make you believe you own nothing, check the land beneath their feet.
Ethan stared at the page.
Then beneath the letter was another document.
A trust certificate.
The date was eleven months earlier.
The beneficiary:
Ethan Brooks.
The asset:
Grantstone Tower.
Ethan looked up.
Melissa had gone pale.
“What are you going to do?”
He smiled faintly.
“I haven’t decided.”
But before he could leave, the elevator doors opened.
A man in a black suit walked out.
Charles Reed.
The man who had called him.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at Melissa.
“Now you know.”
Melissa stood.
“Who are you?”
Charles smiled.
“The attorney who has been waiting for Mr. Brooks to discover what his father left him.”
Ethan stared.
“Why me?”
Charles answered:
“Because your father didn’t want you to become rich.”
He paused.
“He wanted you to become impossible to buy.”
