Chapter 14

Ben sipped his coffee across from me, his normally jovial style tempered by the seriousness of the issue. Even though he had supported me over this entire ordeal, he appeared worn out. Jack watched me intently while leaning on his desk and crossing his arms. He had been trying to make sense of the increasing chaos that was our lives and hadn't said much in the past few days.

I felt my shoulders become more tense as I ran a hand through my hair. I mumbled, my aggravation gnawing at my words, "We're not getting anywhere."

"Because you keep trying to dig where you shouldn't," Jack said, his tone a mixture of caution and warning. "Ethan, I told you. This goes beyond Henry's business. He had relationships with people who didn't want their secrets to be known. It will backfire if you continue to press."

I tightened my jaw as I looked at him. "Jack, I can't just ignore this. You want me to act as though my father didn't have a second existence that may ruin everything he did."

Jack rubbed his temples and sighed. "I'm asking you to be smart about this. The Monroe family name isn't the only issue we're now facing. Whatever Henry's relationships may have been, they are risky. They don't play by the same rules as the rest of us."

I yelled, "I don't give a damn about their rules. I need to know the truth. And so does Emily."

When Emily's name was spoken, Jack's eyes briefly flashed, possibly with concern. His tone softened as he straightened up. "Emily's already in danger, Ethan. She has been threatened and followed. If you care about her at all, you'll stop this before it gets worse."

I tried to calm my breathing by closing my eyes for a while. Jack was right. Emily was afraid and had run away from New York.

"Emily is afraid," I murmured, becoming quieter. "She won't come back. She thinks if she stays in Willow Creek, she'll be safe."

Ben, who had remained quiet until now, opened his mouth. "Dude, maybe she's right. Maybe it's better if she stays there, out of all this. You've seen the kinds of threats we've been getting. She doesn't need to be dragged into it any more than she already is."

I shook my head as I felt my frustration rising once more. "She's already involved. She's tied to Henry's legacy whether she likes it or not. And she's my sister."

The word tasted strange on my tongue. Sister. I, Ethan Monroe, the only child and the lone successor to my father's empire, had been the only one for a very long time. Then came Emily, a half-sister I was unaware of until my father passed away.

"You're not seriously thinking about bringing her back here, are you?" Ben asked astonished, his eyes bulging. "She's safer where she is."

The chair scraped the floor as I got to my feet. "Ben, she's not safe anyplace. Not after all we've discovered."

After glancing at Jack, Ben turned back to face me. "So, Ethan, what's the plan?"

As reporters crammed themselves into the tiny press room, the atmosphere was tense and buzzing with anticipation. Every eye in the room was on me as mics clicked into position and cameras flashed. I felt the pressure of their expectations as I stood behind the podium. They were expecting a bombshell, something that would shatter Henry Monroe's legacy and rock the economic world.

And I was going to offer it to them.

Ben and Jack sat apart, their face tense with anxiety. They didn't know what I was going to say, and to be honest, I liked it that way.

Going public was the only way to put an end to it. But not as everyone had anticipated.

As the crowd became quiet, I cleared my voice and adjusted the microphone. I allowed the silence to linger a moment longer even though my heart was racing.

"I'm here today," I began, my voice steady but sharp, "to address some recent developments regarding the Monroe family; developments that have been hidden for too long."

The crowd's murmur intensified. They had come for the scandals, the secrets. It was the story that would make their headlines.

"As many of you know, my father, Henry Monroe, built an empire. His wealth, influence, and power have touched every corner of the business world. But what you don't know is that my father kept secrets," I said, pausing to allow the impact of my statement to sink in. "Secrets that have come to light since his death."

Now that the cameras were zooming in and the crowd was pressing forward, they were waiting for me to reveal the secret.

Ben gave me a warning look as he shuffled uneasily in his chair. He felt anxious even though he had no idea what was going to happen. Jack, meanwhile, had his hands clasped hard in his lap and was expressionless.

"There's something the public deserves to know about my father's legacy," I continued. "A truth that has been kept hidden for years."

I hung the words like a guillotine ready to fall: "My father had another child."

The room was stunned into silence for a moment. Then the mayhem broke out. Reporters shouted questions over each other, cameras flashed madly, and the room went into a frenzy.

I silenced them by raising my hand. "Her name is Emily Clark," I stated resolutely. "She's my half-sister and she lives in Willow Creek for now"

They expected something far more evil, something that would bring Henry's name into disgrace. Instead, I had dropped a personal bombshell on them.

Jack's jaw dropped as he took in what I had just done. Ben reclined in his chair and massaged his temples.

I went on, disregarding the shocked looks on everyone else's faces. "I know this news will come as a surprise. However, it's the reality. Emily had no knowledge of her connection to my father until after his death, and she has been trying to come to terms with it ever since."

The questions were quick and intense. "Why wasn't this disclosed sooner?" "Does this change the Monroe family estate?" "Will Emily Clark have anything to do with the Monroe company?"

I didn't respond to them. I wasn't here to discuss the estate's or will's legalities.

Above all, it was about ensuring that everyone was aware of Emily's identity so that no one could take advantage of her or cast her name in a negative light.

I stated, "I'm telling you this now because Emily deserves to be acknowledged as part of the Monroe family. She poses no threat. She's not a stranger. I will defend her because she is my sister."

Another barrage of questions broke out, but I wasn't paying attention. The media frenzy that would follow was already a few steps ahead of me. By the end of the day, Emily would be on all the news channels. She would no longer be able to hide from the reality, and her peaceful existence in Willow Creek would come to an end.

Ben's unclear look was fixed on me. Jack, however, appeared as though he was about to strangle me.

I ignored the flurry of questions still coming my way and moved away from the podium. The story would dominate headlines for weeks, giving the journalists what they sought.

Ben caught up to me as I was leaving the stage, his hand on my arm. His voice was low but intense as he shouted, "What the hell was that, Ethan? You didn't tell us you were going to do that."

I shook him off with a shrug. "I didn't have to."

Jack joined us, his face white with rage, and growled, "This is going to make things worse. You just painted a target on her back."

"She already had a target on her back," I shot back. "Now, at least, she's not a secret. Now, everyone knows who she is."

Jack narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "You're not getting it. You've just dragged her deeper into this mess. The media won't stop now. The people after you and Emily won't stop. This changes nothing, if anything, it makes it worse."

What Jack thought didn't matter to me. I had done what I needed to do.

Ben's shoulders slumped and his eyes softened a little. "You should have told us, man," he said quietly. "We could've helped you figure out a better way to handle this."

I fixed my jaw on his eyes. "There was no better way. Now the media is aware. It's done."

Emily wasn't going to be happy about this. In a sense, I had suddenly blown up her life.

However, I was aware that this was the only way to keep her safe. Now that the truth was out, it could not be undone.