Ethan’s Last Friendly Smile
Chapter 09 - Ethan’s Last Friendly Smile
Ethan requested a private meeting at the penthouse.
Celeste advised against it. Gabriel used more direct language. Nora agreed only after police arranged monitored access and confirmed Ethan had removed his belongings.
She wanted to see what he would say when charm was his only remaining tool.
The kitchen had been professionally cleaned. The cracked glass was gone, the floor polished, the papers removed. Yet Nora could still see where she had fallen. Memory did not require stains.
Ethan entered in a navy suit, carrying white roses.
“I never meant for you to get hurt,” he said.
“You meant to stop me.”
“I lost control for one second.”
“You spent years building the conditions for that second.”
He set down the flowers. “The board is frightened. The market is punishing us. If we appear together and call this a medical misunderstanding, we can save the company.”
“We?”
His eyes softened. It was the expression that had once convinced Nora she was seen.
“You and I built Blackwell.”
“I built it. You stood in front of it.”
The mask slipped.
Ethan accused Gabriel of turning her against him. He claimed Samuel’s recording was fabricated. He said the bridge materials were common industry practice and that no major company survived without “flexibility.”
Then he made the mistake of revealing knowledge police had not released.
“The samples from Pier Four won’t prove anything.”
Nora remained still. Only Luis, Maya, investigators, and the independent lab knew which pier had been sampled.
Ethan realized too late.
A police detective listening from the adjacent room stepped into the kitchen.
“Mr. Blackwell, how did you know the samples came from Pier Four?”
Ethan looked at Nora with naked hatred.
“You set me up.”
“No,” she said. “I stopped protecting you from your own words.”
Detectives took his phone under warrant. Before leaving, Ethan leaned close enough that only Nora could hear.
“You think the company will love you when the contracts disappear? When layoffs begin? They will blame you for every hungry child.”
The threat struck the place he understood best: her responsibility for others.
After he was gone, Nora stood alone beside the island.
Gabriel entered but did not tell her what to feel.
“What if he’s right?” she asked. “What if exposing everything destroys the workers too?”
May you like
Gabriel looked around the expensive kitchen.
“Then build something better than the thing he made you carry.”
