Moments of clarity about death mixing with childhood magical thinking that maybe if she was good enough, Mommy might come back. I think mommy would want Daddy to have friends who make him smile. Ethan kept his voice steady and I think she'd like Miss Victoria because Miss Victoria is kind to you. Mommy always said people who are kind to kids are the best kind of people. Lily nodded, satisfied with this logic, returned to her dinner.
Ethan and Victoria exchanged glances that communicated volumes neither of them was ready to voice. They were crossing boundaries faster than intended, constructing emotional intimacy alongside the fake marriage narrative. Neither of them knew how to slow down without hurting the other. The attack came Monday morning. Leaked documents appeared on Chicago Business Journal's website at 6:47 a.m. Ethan woke to Victoria standing in his bedroom doorway, his temporary bedroom, the guest room that had somehow become his space.
She held her tablet with an expression mixing fury and resignation. Marcus struck. Employment records, financial history, everything. It's all public now. Ethan sat up.
Exhaustion making cognition difficult. "How bad?" "Read it yourself." Read it. The article was titled Sterling CEO's husband financial instability raises questions about judgment.
Below the headline was everything Ethan had told Jennifer Chen during their interview, but twisted into narrative that made him sound like opportunist rather than survivor. Three jobs framed as inability to hold steady employment. Medical debt presented as financial irresponsibility. Sarah's death mentioned but minimized. Life insurance payout characterized as windfall that Ethan had somehow squandered.
Photographs accompanied the article. His apartment building looking worse in professional photography than it did in person. His rusted truck in the parking lot. His maintenance uniform from the Regency Crown. The implication was clear.
Victoria Sterling had married someone so financially unstable that questions about her judgment were not just reasonable, but mandatory. The comment section was predictably vicious. People questioning Ethan's motives, suggesting he'd targeted Victoria deliberately, speculating about prenuptial agreements and whether Sterling Capital's board should intervene. Ethan read through the article twice, watching his life get dissected and reassembled into weapon designed to destroy Victoria's credibility. The worst part was that technically everything was accurate.
He did work three jobs. He did have massive debt. He did live in a two-bedroom apartment that cost 800 a month. The facts were correct. Only the framing was malicious.
Victoria was pacing. Energy contained, but barely. Jennifer is drafting a response, but she says anything we say will just draw more attention. Marcus is betting that the best strategy is letting this narrative solidify before we can counter it. "So, what do we do?"
"We fight back." You give an interview. Tell your side of the story before Marcus can define it for you. Ethan thought about what Jennifer had said. That the worst Marcus would find was working-class struggle and tragic loss.