Jason slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and looked me up and down with a pitying expression.

"Oh, look who showed up. Ethan."

He shifted just enough to block my view of Victoria.

"Really sorry about earlier... but, you know, I had to think about Victoria. Big day like today—you really want some old beggar wandering in? Bad luck, right?"

He hit the words "old beggar" hard, with open contempt.

Jason was one of Victoria's company's top influencers—a wannabe star who fawned over her every chance he got. He'd been angling to climb the ladder since day one. Victoria truly valued him, and gave him opportunities left and right.

Now he was getting bold with me, riding high on her favor.

"Your father really doesn't know how to read a room, does he? Victoria's a big deal now. He shows up dressed like that? He's basically begging to embarrass her. I was just helping her clean up the trash."

His eyes flicked over my own plain clothes.

"Look, Ethan, I'm just saying—you should've kept the old man on a leash. When you're living off your wife, you've gotta know your place. Know which rooms you're invited into. Right?"

So that's what he thought of me. A useless freeloader, too pathetic to even keep his own father in check.

What did he know?

He thought he'd just done Victoria a huge favor. Thought he was one rung closer to whatever ladder he was climbing.

He reached out and brushed some imaginary dust off my shoulder, the gesture deliberately humiliating.

"Victoria's time is valuable. If you've got nothing else, you should probably head out."

I took a slow breath and forced the anger back down. Victoria was walking over.

"The person is lying by the trash can outside. He's not dead, but he needs an ambulance. Now."

"Whoever did it is paying. Jason—every cent of his medical bills. And damages. All of it."

Victoria's face twisted in disgust.

"Ethan, are you done? What is this nonsense?"

"It's not nonsense!"

"Jason attacked someone. He sent me a photo and a voice message bragging about it. The man lying out there is your father, Victoria. Your birth father. He needs help!"

Jason let out an exaggerated laugh.

"Some people, man. They've got nothing, so they start hunting for ways to scam money. I just politely walked the old guy out—he slipped and fell on his own. Now suddenly it's my fault? Ethan, I get that you're living off your wife, but coming up with shakedown schemes is a new low."

Victoria crossed her arms, her tone turning vicious.

"Ethan, I have had enough of you. You can't get your act together, fine, you drag me down—fine. But now your whole family's pulling the same crap? Showing up in rags to crash my IPO, then trying to pin it on my employees to squeeze money out of us?"

"Jason works for me, and I will not let you defame him! And now you want money? You're out of your mind!"

I looked at her—polished face, perfect makeup, dripping in jewelry, completely indifferent to the fact that her own father was lying out there bleeding out. Whatever was left of what I'd felt for her finally died.

I let out a cold laugh.

"Victoria, do you really think everyone's like you? That nobody can see anything in this world but money?"

"You—!"

I'd hit a nerve. The blood drained from her face.

Jason saw his opening and jumped in, jabbing a finger in my face.

"Ethan! Who the hell do you think you are, talking to Victoria like that? You think you're hot shit? Well, today I'll teach you a lesson for her, you ungrateful piece of—"

He swung at my face, putting on a show of manhood for Victoria.

I tilted my head slightly. His fist whiffed past me, his momentum carried him forward, and he hit the marble floor face-first.

A wet, heavy crack. The kind of sound that made you flinch.

Jason sprawled on the ground, too stunned to move.

When he finally raised his head, blood was streaming from his nose and the corner of his mouth. He was a mess.

"Jason!"

Victoria's face crumpled. She rushed over and dropped to her knees beside him, pulling a silk scarf from her purse and fumbling to press it against his nose. Then she whipped her head around to glare at me.

"Ethan! You animal! You actually hit him?!"

"Everyone here saw it. He swung first."

I glanced down at Jason, still groaning into the floor.

"He got what he deserved. He damn near killed an old man for no reason."

"Because of your dad's mess, you'd put your hands on Jason? Ethan, I had you all wrong. Broke is one thing, but this savage on top of it? You're just like that dying old fart of yours!"

"He's barely got any time left anyway. Today, next week—what's the difference? Jason was defending himself. He gave the guy a little shove. How was he supposed to know the old man would go down like that? Why are you making this Jason's problem?"

A cold laugh rose in my chest. Her father's front teeth had been knocked out. His whole face was a bloody mess. A little shove did that?

"Victoria, I told you—that's not my father. Look at the photo again. The clothes are old, yeah, but the cut and the fabric? That's Savile Row, about ten years ago—"

"Stop making things up! My dad's clothes are all the latest designs—I order them myself! Plus, he's on vacation. I talked to him this morning!"

Victoria slammed a folder hard against my chest.

"Sign it!"

The folder hit the floor and fell open. I glanced down. It was a waiver.

"Sign this and you promise to leave Jason alone."

"Otherwise, we're getting a divorce!"

"Ethan, your dad's a dead man. Without me, how do you plan to live? You better wise up before I completely lose interest in you."

Jason chimed in, putting on his best peacemaker voice.

"Victoria, let it go... Ethan's just shocked. I can handle a little disrespect—what matters is that you and the company are okay. He doesn't even have to sign anything! Just as long as Ethan stops attacking me..."

His voice was soft, pitiful, wounded. But when he glanced at me, his eyes were pure provocation.

"Fine. Let's get divorced."

Victoria froze.

"Ethan, don't try to scare me. I've been wanting a divorce for ages!"

"Your dad is a leech who's been making your life harder by existing. He'd be doing everyone a favor by dropping dead."

"Jason is young, he's the company's biggest star right now, he's got an amazing future. You should be thanking him for taking out the trash—instead you're swinging at him? You don't know a good thing when it's right in front of you!"

A crowd of employees and executives had started gathering, whispering and pointing.

Jason was peeking out from behind Victoria, a smirk creeping across his lips.

I looked at Victoria's face, twisted by her own bitterness, and the last spark of love I had for her flickered out.

"Sign the papers. That's fine."

I kept my voice level.

"But you'll be the one signing."

Victoria laughed like I'd told the joke of the century.

"Why would I sign for you? Ethan, your dad's your problem—I never considered him family."

"You misunderstood me. The one who's dead is your father. The waiver needs your name on it, not mine."

"Ethan! Is this what I get for being good to you?! How dare you keep cursing my father like that!"

Jason jumped in.

"Even if he's Victoria’s father, he’s still your father-in-law. You don't even know how to respect your elders?"

"Enough, Ethan!"

"You've lost it! You'll say anything just to mess with me!"

"Since you have zero respect for my father, you brought this on yourself!"

She snapped at the security guards across the lobby.

"You, all of you—get a sack. Stuff that old piece of garbage into the hotel's septic tank out back!"

The guards looked at each other. None of them dared to step forward and touch the body.

Jason rushed over to back her up.

"What are you waiting for? You heard Victoria! Old trash like that deserves to die out there in the gutter! Hurry up and clean it up!"

"Nobody's ruining my day! Throw it! Now!"

Victoria practically spat the words out.

The guards, intimidated, finally moved to comply.

"If it were your father, would you still throw him out like that, Victoria?"

She let out a cold laugh.

"My dad's in Vienna watching fashion week. Some hick like that deserves exactly what he's getting!"

I just stood there, watching her hysterical performance. The crowd buzzed around me.

"Ethan's gone too far. He's actually wishing death on Victoria’s father."

"Seriously. After everything Victoria's done for him? Ungrateful. Dresses like a hobo and acts like he's somebody. He deserves to be dumped."

Victoria heard the murmurs and lifted her chin higher, her eyes glittering with triumph.

"Hear that? Every person in this room thinks you've lost it! My father must have racked up some serious karma to end up with a son-in-law like you. And your dad? He should've dropped dead a long time ago, with a son like you!"

That was when my phone rang.

It was my father.

I hit speaker without hesitating.

"Ethan, just finished a round—played really well today!"

His voice came through clear as a bell.

"How's things on your end? Did you see Victoria and her dad? He told me he wanted to come back early to surprise her."

"I saw him."

I watched Victoria's face go stiff.

"Ethan! You think you can fool me by finding some old man whose voice sounds like your dad?"

Victoria's voice came out shrill.

"It's gotta be one of your broke relatives! You people love these cheap, sleazy little tricks!"

Jason stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Victoria's shoulders.

"Victoria, don't waste your breath. People like him won’t learn their lesson until they face the consequences."

He turned to me, eyes full of malice.

"Ethan, you keep insisting the guy outside is Victoria's father. But she just talked to him this morning. So why don't we make her call him right now? Got the guts?"

"Victoria, call him! Shut this lunatic up once and for all!"

Victoria pulled her phone out of her clutch and hit dial, glaring at me the whole time.

"Ethan, the second this call goes through, you're getting on your knees and apologizing to Jason. Then you're walking out of my company and never coming back."

She switched to speaker so everyone could hear.

Ring... ring... ring...

It rang on and on. Nobody picked up.

"Victoria, he might still be on the plane. Phone might be off—"

"The flight from Vienna landed three hours ago. What are the odds his phone's just dead? Or maybe something's happened to him. Maybe he can't pick up."

I kept my voice quiet.

"Ethan, don't try this cheap scare tactic on me! My dad's phone is dead, or he's still mad at me, so he's ignoring my call on purpose!"

"I was a little harsh on him this morning because of the IPO. He's pissed at me. That's all it is. Yeah, that's all."

I saw a flash of something dark in Jason's eyes.

"Enough!"

Jason shouted, suddenly loud enough that the whole room turned.

He pointed at me and yelled at the guards.

"What are you all standing around for?! He's clearly trying to sabotage the IPO! He's jealous of Victoria—hold him! Don't let him near her!"

Two guards grabbed my arms.

I didn't fight them. Just stared coldly at Jason.

"Jason. What are you doing?"

Victoria seemed to come back to herself for a moment, frowning at him.

"Victoria, we've been played by this guy."

Jason walked right up to me.

"I saw him acting weird when he came near you. I think he stole something off you!"

Then he reached into my coat pocket.

"Look! What's this?!"

Jason held something up high. A men's wristwatch sat in his palm, the dial flashing under the lobby lights. Complicated face, alligator strap—the kind of piece that screamed money.

A limited-edition Patek Philippe.

The room exploded.

The whole thing was full of twists and turns, far more dramatic than any TV drama. The looks people were giving me now were pure disgust.

"I knew Ethan was off!"

"Broke and desperate. Victoria's been carrying him this whole time and he's stealing from her?"

"Probably his father was the one trying to swipe it. Jason caught him red-handed and put him in his place!"

"And the act about his dad not being dead? That was just cover. Disgusting."