Chapter 12 - The Soldier Came Home
The penthouse was silent when Ethan entered.
No staff.
No music.
Only city light spilled across the marble floor.
Victoria appeared first.
Her face showed surprise for less than a second.
Then she smiled.
“Ethan.”
He did not hug her.
“Where’s Brooke?”
“She’s resting.”
“Why?”
Victoria lowered her voice.
“There has been an incident.”
Trevor entered from the office.
He wore one of Ethan’s shirts.
“You should have warned us.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Why?”
“So we could prepare Brooke.”
“For what?”
Trevor glanced at Victoria.
“She had another episode.”
Ethan walked toward the bedroom.
Victoria blocked the hallway.
“She does not want to see you.”
“Move.”
“She may accuse us of things.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“Move.”
Victoria stepped aside.
The bedroom door was not locked.
Brooke sat on the bed clutching the sheet around herself.
Her makeup had been removed.
The bruises were visible.
Ethan stopped breathing.
He crossed the room and knelt beside her.
“Who did this to you?”
Brooke began shaking.
Victoria and Trevor appeared in the doorway.
“She’s just unstable,” Victoria said.
Ethan lifted the sheet and saw the injuries.
Brooke looked toward Victoria with fear.
He followed her gaze.
Then he noticed his military jacket on the bed.
The old smartwatch was inside the pocket.
Brooke opened her hand.
The outdated phone lay beneath the blanket.
“I didn’t sign alone.”
Ethan took it.
He opened the images.
The Mercury documents.
The forged signatures.
The security footage.
Then the audio recording began playing.
Trevor’s voice filled the bedroom.
You will sign.
Brooke cried out in the recording.
Victoria said, Stop fighting. You are making this worse.
Ethan sent the files to the attorney.
The reply came almost instantly.
SECURITY AND COUNSEL ENTERING NOW.
The attorney opened the bedroom door minutes later.
“Seal every account,” he told the banking team on his phone.
Ethan rose and placed himself between Brooke and his family.
He held up the jacket.
“You wore my jacket?”
Trevor looked toward the old phone.
He finally understood that Brooke had recorded everything.
Victoria tried to leave.
Two security officers were waiting in the hallway.
The attorney opened his file.
“The Mercury transfer is frozen. No one leaves with company devices or documents.”
Trevor’s fear became anger.
He pointed at Brooke.
“She planned this!”
Ethan stepped closer.
“No. She survived it.”
May you like
Then the attorney revealed that the forged transfer was only one piece of what Mercury had been created to steal.
👉 Hidden behind the share transfer was a second agreement that would have placed every company debt—and the criminal responsibility—directly in Ethan’s name.
