She Rejected the Poor Boy in College… 5 Years Later, He Became Her Boss!
Chapter 6
The signature belonged to Andrew Collins.
Sterling’s vice chairman.
He had been part of the company for twenty-two years.
Ethan confronted him privately.
“Tell me about this payment.”
Andrew looked at the document.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You signed it.”
“No.”
“The signature is yours.”
“It was forged.”
Ethan stared.
“Then prove it.”
The investigation became public.
Andrew hired lawyers.
The board split.
Half supported Ethan.
Half wanted the matter contained.
Emma stood beside him.
The media called it a corporate war.
Ethan called it accountability.
He refused to negotiate with corruption.
Then his mother called again.
She had found another piece of evidence.
A letter from Ethan’s father.
It had been written weeks before his death.
The letter had never been sent.
It said:
If anything happens to me, don’t trust Victor. There is someone above him.
Ethan read it repeatedly.
The person above Victor was likely still alive.
Still powerful.
Still inside Sterling.
Emma watched him.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I may have spent years looking at the wrong enemy.”
The investigation widened.
The team discovered a series of shell companies.
One linked to Andrew.
Another linked to Victor.
But the final company belonged to someone unexpected.
Emma’s former father-in-law.
David Carter.
She stared at the records.
“My ex-husband’s father?”
Ethan nodded.
“Apparently.”
Emma couldn’t breathe.
Her ex-husband, Mark, had always claimed his family was wealthy because of real estate.
Now she wondered where the money had actually come from.
She confronted Mark.
“You knew.”
He looked at her.
“Knew what?”
“The companies.”
He laughed.
“You’re paranoid.”
“Why is your father’s company connected to Ethan’s?”
Mark’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
He became angry.
“You always think you know everything.”
Emma remembered the feeling.
The same dismissive tone.
The same way he’d made her doubt herself.
She left.
Then Mark called Ethan.
He offered information.
In exchange for immunity.
Ethan agreed to listen.
Mark revealed that his father had been working with Victor for years.
But he didn’t know about the murder.
He knew only that Ethan’s father had been threatening to expose them.
And he knew something else.
There had been a third person.
A woman.
She had attended secret meetings.
She had access to Sterling’s board.
Mark didn’t know her name.
Only her initials.
S.R.
Ethan immediately called legal.
“Find every executive with those initials.”
There were three.
One was a board member.
One was a lawyer.
One was Ethan’s mother.
Ethan froze.
He knew his mother couldn’t be involved.
But the initials could not be ignored.
Then his mother admitted the truth.
S.R. was not her.
It was her maiden initials only by coincidence.
The board member was Sarah Reed.
Ethan had never met her.
And she was about to become his biggest threat.
