Single Mom Practiced Her Interview in the Elevator — Unaware the Man Was the CEO!
Chapter 11
Ethan didn’t ask why.
He simply trusted Andrew’s warning.
He immediately ordered the executive floor sealed.
Security searched every office.
Emily stayed beside Andrew in the ambulance.
He survived the gunshot.
But he remained unconscious.
Daniel Rhodes was nowhere to be found.
His office was empty.
His computer had been wiped.
His apartment had been abandoned.
But Noah found something.
A hidden account.
Not Daniel’s.
Gerald Sterling’s.
It had transferred thirty million dollars to an offshore account only two days before Ethan’s father died.
The recipient?
Sterling Advisory.
Daniel controlled it.
But the account’s final beneficiary was not Daniel.
Ethan.
Emily stared.
“Why would the money go to Ethan?”
Noah explained.
“Because Northstar’s entire purpose was to force a transfer of ownership.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t understand.”
“Your father wanted you to inherit the company.”
“I already did.”
“Legally.”
Noah placed several contracts on the table.
“Not financially.”
Ethan read them.
The contracts showed that certain shares were being held in hidden trusts.
If Northstar activated its final clause, ownership would be transferred to Ethan.
But the cost was devastating.
Every hidden debt and liability would also transfer to him.
Ethan wouldn’t become the powerful owner of Sterling Innovations.
He would become the legal owner of a corporate disaster.
His fortune would vanish.
He could be prosecuted.
The company would collapse.
Emily understood.
“They wanted to put everything on you.”
“Yes.”
“And then blame you.”
“For the money.”
She looked at him.
“Your father knew.”
“Yes.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“He built a trap for his own son.”
“But why?”
Noah answered.
“Because Gerald needed someone from the family to carry the liability.”
Ethan stared at the documents.
“Why me?”
Noah looked uncomfortable.
“Because your mother refused.”
Silence.
Ethan closed his eyes.
His mother had known.
She had tried to protect him.
And the financial scandal that ruined her life had been part of the same operation.
Suddenly, her entire history made sense.
Emily reached for his hand.
He held it.
“I thought I was fixing my father’s legacy.”
“You were.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I was cleaning up his crime.”
Emily squeezed his fingers.
“You stopped it.”
“With your help.”
“With our help.”
He looked at her.
Their eyes met.
Then Ethan said,
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re not going to.”
“I might lose everything.”
Emily smiled gently.
“You already have the one thing money can’t replace.”
“What?”
She touched his chest.
“A family.”
His face softened.
Then the hospital called.
Andrew had regained consciousness.
And he had one final piece of evidence.
A recorded conversation.
Daniel Rhodes admitting everything.
But there was one problem.
The recording ended with a sentence that terrified Ethan.
“I didn’t choose this. Your mother did.”
