Chapter 4 - The Trap Behind the Affair
The private lounge had become an emergency command center.
Corporate attorneys sat around a long table with laptops open. Two members of the internal audit team reviewed files from Mandy’s phone. Chairman Qin stood near the window, speaking quietly to Harold Wei.
When Serena entered with Ethan, everyone looked up.
The chief legal officer, Rachel Han, closed the lounge door.
“Vice President Qin, before we continue, you should understand that you are suspended. You are not required to answer questions without independent counsel.”
Ethan pulled out a chair.
“I didn’t authorize an eighteen-million-dollar transfer.”
Rachel remained neutral.
“We are not asking you to confess.”
“Then show me the document.”
She rotated a laptop toward him.
The authorization form displayed his name, executive credentials, and encrypted digital signature.
Ethan studied it.
“The formatting is wrong.”
The audit director leaned forward.
“How?”
“My approval code appears beneath the secondary authorization. It should be above it.”
Rachel asked, “Could someone on your team know that?”
“Anyone who has seen my previous transfers.”
“Mandy?”
“Yes.”
The audit director opened another file.
“The transfer was scheduled for eleven forty-five tonight. The recipient is Silver Arc Consulting.”
Victor asked, “Who controls it?”
“We are still tracing the ownership.”
Ethan pointed toward the screen.
“Cancel it.”
“It has already been frozen,” Rachel said.
He looked at Victor.
“You see? She forged my signature.”
Victor did not soften.
“That may clear you of this transaction. It does not clear you of the others.”
Ethan sat back.
“I know.”
It was the first time he had acknowledged responsibility without arguing.
Serena took a seat across from him.
“What did Mandy mean when she said you would go down with her?”
Ethan rubbed his hands together.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel said, “We found several voice recordings.”
Ethan’s head lifted.
“She recorded me?”
“Apparently.”
“For how long?”
“At least four months.”
Rachel played the first file.
Mandy’s voice came through the laptop speakers.
“You can’t keep delaying the divorce.”
Then Ethan’s voice:
“I told you to be patient.”
“You said your father would retire by the end of the year.”
“He will once the board sees the medical report.”
“What medical report?”
“The one showing his condition is getting worse.”
Serena turned toward Victor.
He remained expressionless.
The recording continued.
Mandy asked, “But his doctor said he was stable.”
Ethan replied, “The board doesn’t need every detail.”
Rachel paused the recording.
Victor’s voice was dangerously quiet.
“You planned to misrepresent my health?”
Ethan stood.
“I was not going to fake a medical report.”
“You just said the board didn’t need every detail.”
“I meant your mobility issues.”
“I walk with a cane. The board has eyes.”
Ethan looked cornered.
“I believed retirement would reduce your stress.”
“You believed retirement would give you control.”
Ethan said nothing.
Rachel played another recording.
Mandy’s voice: “Once you’re chairman, Julian’s firms will handle the overseas projects.”
Ethan: “Only if they pass compliance review.”
Mandy: “They will. My team can prepare the reports.”
Ethan: “No more shortcuts. The villa already created too many questions.”
Mandy: “You loved the villa.”
Ethan: “I loved being there with you. That doesn’t mean the accounting was handled correctly.”
The recording ended.
Rachel looked at Ethan.
“You knew there were accounting concerns.”
“I knew the property classification was aggressive.”
“Did you report it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked down.
“Because I didn’t want the relationship exposed.”
Serena’s voice was quiet.
“So you protected the affair at the company’s expense.”
Ethan met her eyes.
“Yes.”
No excuses this time.
No claims of misunderstanding.
Just one word.
Victor turned away in disgust.
Rachel opened a folder of text messages.
“There is more. Mandy and her brother appear to have been planning to remove both Chairman Qin and Ethan from the company.”
Ethan looked up.
“What?”
Rachel read from the screen.
“Julian wrote: ‘Once the old man is out, let Ethan take the chair. He signs everything you put in front of him. After the overseas transfer, release the recordings. The board will remove him, and we keep the money.’”
Silence filled the room.
Ethan looked physically ill.
Mandy had not wanted to build a life with him.
She had wanted to use his ambition, his affair, and his carelessness to steal from the company.
Serena felt no satisfaction.
Only a strange clarity.
Mandy had manipulated him, but she could manipulate him only because he had already decided that rules did not apply to him.
Victor asked, “Where is Mandy now?”
“In the adjacent conference room with her attorney,” Rachel said.
“Has she been told about these messages?”
“No.”
Ethan stood.
“I want to speak to her.”
Rachel shook her head.
“That would be unwise.”
“She used me.”
Serena looked at him.
“And you used me.”
He turned toward her.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked, but Serena did not look away.
“I told myself I deserved more,” Ethan continued. “More authority. More admiration. More excitement. Mandy made me feel like every selfish choice was proof that I was finally becoming powerful.”
Victor’s expression remained cold.
“And now?”
“Now I see that I was easy to control because I wanted to hear exactly what she was saying.”
Serena said, “That still does not make you the victim.”
“I know.”
Rachel closed the laptop.
“The police financial crimes unit has been contacted. Because the transfer attempt occurred tonight, they may want statements immediately.”
Ethan nodded.
“I’ll cooperate.”
Victor studied him.
“You will surrender access credentials, company devices, and your passport to counsel.”
Ethan stiffened.
“My passport?”
“Until investigators determine whether you were involved.”
“I said I’ll cooperate.”
“Then cooperate.”
Ethan removed his phone and access card and placed them on the table.
Rachel asked, “Do you have a second phone?”
“No.”
Serena looked at him.
“The one you used with Mandy?”
Ethan’s face tightened.
He reached inside his jacket and removed a smaller device.
He placed it beside the first phone.
Victor closed his eyes briefly.
Rachel collected both.
Serena looked at Ethan.
“How long did you intend to maintain two lives?”
“I don’t know.”
“That seems to be your answer to everything.”
“Because I stopped thinking beyond the next lie.”
The lounge door opened.
A security officer entered.
“Miss Lin is demanding to speak with Mr. Qin.”
Rachel frowned.
“Which Mr. Qin?”
“She said Ethan.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
Serena asked, “Why?”
“She says she has information that can protect him.”
Rachel turned to Ethan.
“You should not meet her privately.”
“Then everyone stays.”
Victor nodded.
“Bring her in.”
A minute later, Mandy entered with a lawyer beside her.
The confidence she had displayed in the ballroom was gone. Her face was pale, and the diamond necklace had been removed and sealed as potential evidence because it had been purchased through a disputed account.
She looked at Ethan.
“Tell them this was your idea.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What?”
“The consulting companies. The villa. The transfers. Tell them you directed everything.”
Her attorney touched her arm.
“Mandy, do not continue.”
She pulled away.
“You said you would protect me.”
Ethan gave a bitter laugh.
“You were planning to frame me.”
Mandy froze.
Rachel turned the laptop so Mandy could see her messages with Julian.
Her expression collapsed.
“You searched my private conversations.”
“The phone belongs to the company,” Rachel replied.
Mandy looked at her lawyer.
“Do something.”
He said quietly, “You need to stop speaking.”
Ethan moved closer to the table.
“You were going to steal eighteen million dollars and release the recordings.”
Mandy crossed her arms.
“You were going to throw me away as soon as your father questioned you.”
“I brought you to the banquet.”
“Because I threatened to send Serena the photographs.”
Serena’s eyebrows lifted.
Ethan looked at Mandy.
“You threatened me?”
“You ignored me for two weeks.”
“I was trying to end it.”
“You told me to wait.”
“I told you we needed distance.”
“You promised me a future.”
“And you promised you loved me.”
Mandy’s laugh was sharp.
“Love? You wanted someone who praised you. I wanted someone with access. We both got what we wanted.”
Ethan looked as if every word cut deeper than the last.
Mandy turned to Serena.
“Don’t look so pleased. He cheated because you made his life boring.”
Serena answered calmly.
“A faithful man does not become unfaithful because dinner conversations are boring.”
“You stopped being a woman to him.”
“No. He stopped treating me like one.”
Mandy leaned forward.
“He told me you never challenged him.”
Serena glanced at Ethan.
“I trusted him. He mistook trust for weakness.”
Mandy’s voice rose.
“He chose me.”
Serena shook her head.
“He used you to escape responsibility. You used him to access money. Neither of you chose the other. You chose what you thought the other person could provide.”
The room became quiet.
Even Mandy’s attorney looked away.
Mandy stared at Ethan.
“Tell them you signed the transfers.”
“I signed some of them.”
Her eyes lit with desperate hope.
Ethan continued, “And I will accept responsibility for every document I approved. But I did not authorize tonight’s transfer, and I will not lie to protect you.”
“You coward.”
“Yes,” he said. “I was.”
The unexpected admission stopped her.
“I was a coward when I lied to my wife. I was a coward when I hid the accounting concerns. I was a coward when I let ambition become more important than my father’s trust.”
He looked at Serena.
“And I was a coward when I blamed her for the emptiness I created.”
Mandy’s face hardened.
“You think one speech will make her forgive you?”
“No.”
Ethan’s answer came immediately.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
Serena looked at him but said nothing.
Police officers arrived shortly after midnight.
Mandy and her attorney were escorted out for formal questioning. She had not yet been charged, but the attempted transfer, shell companies, and messages provided enough grounds for an immediate investigation.
Her brother was stopped at the airport before boarding a flight to Singapore.
The birthday banquet ended quietly.
Most guests left through side exits to avoid reporters who had gathered outside.
In the hotel’s private garage, Victor stood beside his car.
“You’re coming home with me,” he told Serena.
She nodded.
Ethan stood several feet away, without a driver, assistant, or company vehicle.
Victor looked at him.
“You will not return to the family residence.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“I understand.”
“You may stay at your apartment near headquarters.”
“That property belongs to the company.”
“Not after midnight. The board terminated your housing privileges.”
Ethan lowered his gaze.
Victor turned to Serena.
“Come.”
She placed a hand on his arm, then paused.
“Dad, give me a moment.”
Victor studied her, then entered the car.
Serena walked toward Ethan.
He looked smaller without the ballroom, the title, and the people surrounding him.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She did not respond.
“I know that is not enough.”
“No.”
“I don’t know how to repair this.”
“You may not be able to.”
He swallowed.
“Are you filing for divorce?”
“Yes.”
The word was quiet but final.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“When?”
“My attorney will contact you this week.”
“Is there any chance—”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You answered before I finished.”
“Because for ten years, I finished your reports, your explanations, and your excuses. I know where this sentence ends.”
He nodded slowly.
“What do you want in the settlement?”
“What is fair.”
“You could take everything.”
“I don’t want everything.”
“The house?”
“I will keep the home because it was purchased with both our contributions.”
“The shares?”
“The trust shares are not marital property.”
“I know.”
She watched him carefully.
“I do not want revenge, Ethan. I want distance, honesty, and a life that does not depend on whether you value me.”
He wiped a hand across his face.
“I did value you.”
“Perhaps once.”
“I still do.”
“No. You value what I protected for you.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Fairness is not what hurts you tonight. Consequences are.”
The Rolls-Royce engine started.
Serena turned away.
Ethan called after her.
“Serena.”
She stopped.
“I am going to tell investigators everything,” he said. “Even if it means I lose my career.”
She looked back.
“That is the first responsible decision you have made tonight.”
“Will it matter to you?”
“It will matter to the employees whose jobs could be affected.”
“I meant personally.”
Serena considered him.
“It will help me remember that you were not always the man you became.”
Then she entered the car.
As they drove away, Victor looked at her.
“You were kinder than he deserved.”
“I wasn’t being kind.”
“What were you being?”
“Finished.”
Victor nodded.
Several blocks passed in silence.
Then he said, “The company will need leadership during the investigation.”
“I told everyone I don’t want the chairmanship.”
“I’m not asking you to become chairman.”
“What are you asking?”
“To help me find the right person.”
Serena looked through the window at the city lights.
“For years, Ethan told me I had been away from business too long.”
Victor gave a faint smile.
“Ethan also believed Mandy Lin loved him. His judgment is not our standard.”
Despite everything, Serena laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh she had managed all night.
Victor continued, “You do not need to decide now.”
Serena looked at the sealed folder still resting in her lap.
May you like
For ten years, she had lived as though her future depended on Ethan.
By the time the car reached the family residence, she understood that it never had.
