PART 2: Millionaire Took His Mistress to a Luxury Island—Then Saw His Pregnant Wife Signing Papers Beside America’s Youngest Billionaire CEO6-019
Chapter 8
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“I abandoned the idea two days later.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought mixing our marriage with business would be complicated.”
She almost laughed again.
“You understand how absurd that sounds?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what Northlight was worth?”
“Not until Robert ran the valuation.”
“And?”
Ethan paused.
“His estimate was significantly below Pierce’s.”
“How significantly?”
“About forty percent.”
Grace stared at the table.
“Why?”
“Northlight’s major defense-sector pilot wasn’t public yet. Pierce apparently knew about the capabilities through another portfolio company.”
That made sense.
It also meant Ethan had not tried to undervalue her.
Grace disliked how relieved that made her feel.
“I’m sorry,” Ethan said.
“For what?”
“For discussing your company behind your back. For treating your financial life like another department I could administer.”
Grace rubbed her stomach.
The baby kicked.
Hard.
“Ow.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. She kicked.”
Ethan became quiet.
Then, “Is she okay?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“Grace?”
“Yes?”
“May I ask something?”
“You can ask.”
“Can I still come to the appointment Friday?”
Grace closed her eyes.
The ultrasound.
She had almost forgotten.
Part of her wanted to say no.
Not to punish him.
Because seeing him would be difficult.
But he was still the baby’s father.
And whatever happened to their marriage, she did not want to use their daughter as a border between them.
“Yes.”
Ethan exhaled.
“Thank you.”
“But we’re not discussing us there.”
“Agreed.”
They ended the call.
Grace remained at the kitchen table.
Her gaze settled again on the investment statement.
For days she had been searching for a simple story.
Ethan had betrayed her.
Therefore everything he had ever done was false.
It would have been easier.
But the papers in front of her told a more complicated truth.
He had preserved every dollar belonging to her.
He had made sure the money grew.
He had also made decisions without her.
He had cared for her.
And failed to truly see her.
Both things could be true.
Grace was beginning to understand that the hardest truths usually arrived in pairs.
Friday morning, Ethan was already in the waiting room when Grace entered.
He stood immediately.
He had a coffee in one hand.
“Decaf vanilla latte.”
Grace looked at it.
“You remembered.”
“I always remember your coffee.”
The sadness in the sentence surprised them both.
Grace accepted the cup.
“Thank you.”
They sat with one chair between them.
Around them, couples murmured quietly.
A toddler stacked wooden blocks near the window while his father helped.
Grace noticed Ethan watching them.
She wondered whether he was afraid.
She was.
When the nurse called them, they entered together.
The appointment was routine.
The baby was healthy.
Growing well.
Heart rate strong.
Grace watched the small gray shape move across the monitor.
Beside her, Ethan stared at the image with wet eyes.
He reached for Grace’s hand.
Then stopped halfway.
Grace saw.
After a second, she turned her palm upward.
He took it.
Only for the scan.
Only because their daughter was there between them in flickering light.
Still, something inside Grace softened.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
Perhaps simply recognition.
This man had disappointed her more deeply than anyone ever had.
He was also the man who once drove through a snowstorm at two in the morning because Grace’s mother had fallen and was afraid to go to the hospital alone.
Human beings did not become one thing because of their worst decision.
That did not erase the decision.
It made understanding it harder.
After the appointment, they walked to the parking lot.
Ethan stopped beside Grace’s car.
“I’m starting therapy next week.”
Grace looked at him.
“Okay.”
“I’m not telling you because I expect it to change anything.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because I think I spent years explaining myself to myself. I’d like to stop doing that.”
Grace nodded.
“That sounds useful.”
He almost smiled.
Then a black sedan pulled up near the curb.
Declan Pierce stepped out.
Ethan stiffened before he could help it.
Declan saw them.
He approached.
“Grace.”
“Declan?”
Grace glanced at the medical building.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to speak with you.”
He nodded politely to Ethan.
“Calloway.”
“Pierce.”
Grace looked between them.
“About Northlight?”
“Yes.”
Declan’s expression was unusually serious.
“The regulatory review uncovered something.”
Grace felt a small tightening beneath her ribs.
“What?”
“A patent filing.”
“What patent filing?”
“One submitted six years ago under your father’s name.”
Grace stared at him.
“My father wasn’t an engineer.”
“I know.”
Declan handed her a thin document envelope.
“That’s why our attorneys were confused.”
Grace opened it.
On the first page was her father’s name.
Beneath it was another.
Grace Mercer.
Her fingers went still.
“I never filed this.”
Declan nodded.
“We know.”
“Then who did?”
“We’re trying to determine that.”
May you like
Grace turned the page.
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