The Disgraced Husband Is Actually Royalty In Hiding

Chapter 2_The Man Nobody Sees

Ethan ran to the front window.

The black car was already turning the corner at the end of the street. Its red taillights shone for one second in the dark, and then it was gone.

He did not see the license plate. He did not see the driver's face. But he knew exactly who had sent that car.

His uncle.

Ethan's phone buzzed again. It was Leo.

"Sir, are you there? Sir?"

"They were here, Leo," Ethan said quietly. "Right outside the house. Tonight."

"I'm sending men now. Four of my best. They will watch the house all night. Nobody will get close to her."

"Good." Ethan looked back at the dining room. The guests were laughing, drinking and taking pictures. None of them had any idea that danger had just been parked across the street. "And Leo?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Meet me at the garage. One hour."

At midnight, the Whitmore house was dark and quiet.

Ethan slept in a small room at the end of the hallway, next to the laundry room. For three years, Diane had refused to let him share a bedroom with Sophia. "Not until you earn it," she always said. He never had.

He got dressed in black jeans and a dark jacket. He opened the window, climbed out onto the roof of the garage, and dropped silently onto the grass below.

Across the street, a man sitting in a gray van lifted two fingers to him. One of Leo's men. Ethan nodded back and walked into the night.

Twenty minutes later, he stood in front of an old auto repair garage in a quiet part of the city. The sign above the door was broken. The windows were dirty. It looked like nobody had used the place in years.

That was the point.

Ethan pressed his thumb against a small hidden panel next to the door. Something clicked. The heavy metal door rolled up.

Inside, the garage was nothing like the outside.

The walls were covered with screens. Maps of Europe. Live news from ten countries. Bank numbers moving up and down. Photos of men in military uniforms, with red lines connecting them like a spider's web.

Six people sat at computers. When Ethan walked in, all six of them stood up at once.

"Your Highness," they said together, bowing their heads.

"Sit," Ethan said. "We don't have time for that tonight."

Leo Grant walked toward him. He was a big man, almost fifty years old, with gray hair cut very short and a long scar down the side of his neck. Twelve years ago, Leo had been the youngest guard in the royal palace. On the night of the coup, he had carried a bleeding sixteen-year-old prince on his back through the forest for three days without stopping.

He had never left Ethan's side since.

"How bad is it?" Ethan asked.

Leo pointed at the largest screen. A photo appeared. A thin man with no hair, small round glasses, and a face that looked like it had never smiled in his life.

"His name is Felix Brandt," Leo said. "He is one of your uncle's hunters. He landed in Boston two days ago on a fake passport. He is the one who took the photo of the house."

"What does he know?"

"We don't think he knows your face yet," Leo said. "If he did, you would already be dead. But he knows the prince is somewhere in Boston. And somehow, he knows about the Whitmore family."

Ethan stared at Brandt's face. "How?"

"We don't know, sir." Leo's voice became lower. "Only a few people in the world know where you live. That's what worries me."

The room went quiet.

Ethan understood what Leo was saying. Someone close to them had talked. Someone they trusted.

"Find out how he knew," Ethan said. "And find Brandt. I want to know where he sleeps, what he eats, and who he calls."

"Yes, sir."

Ethan turned to a young woman at the nearest computer. "Nina. The money."

Nina typed fast. The screen changed to show a long list of company names. Northstar Holdings. Blue Harbor Shipping. Silverline Energy. Crown Peak Investments. Dozens more.

"All accounts are safe, sir," Nina said. "Total value as of tonight is four point two billion dollars. Nobody can connect any of it to you."

Four point two billion dollars.

And tonight, Ethan had been laughed at for giving his wife a twenty-dollar bracelet.

Leo looked at him carefully. "Sir. I heard about the dinner. About Brandon Sterling."

Ethan's face did not change. "What about him?"

"You could end him with one phone call. You know that. Buy his company. Take everything he has. Let the Whitmores see who you really are."

"No," Ethan said.

"Sir—"

"If I show my money now, people will ask questions. Where did a poor refugee get billions of dollars? Reporters will dig. Viktor's spies will dig. And they will find me." Ethan shook his head. "I have hidden for twelve years, Leo. I will not throw that away because a rich boy made fun of my suit."

Leo sighed. "Then what will you do about Sterling?"

Ethan was quiet for a moment.

"For now," he said, "nothing."

The next morning, Ethan was back in the Whitmore kitchen at six o'clock, making breakfast as if nothing had happened.

At seven, Sophia came downstairs in a white blouse and black pants, ready for work. She was the director of the Whitmore Group, the family's construction company. Her father, Gerald, was the chairman, but everyone knew Sophia did the real work.

She took a cup of coffee from Ethan without a word. But he noticed she was still wearing the silver bracelet.

Then her phone rang.

Sophia answered. Ethan watched her face change. First surprise. Then shock. Then fear.

"What do you mean, cancelled?" she said. "We signed the papers last week! … No. No, please, Mr. Harlow, just give me one meeting. … Hello? Hello?"

She slowly put the phone down. Her hands were shaking.

"Sophia?" Ethan said.

"It's gone," she whispered. "The Harbor Point contract. Eighty million dollars. They just cancelled it."

Ethan knew what that meant. For the past year, the Whitmore Group had been drowning in debt. The Harbor Point project was the only thing keeping the company alive. Without it, the banks would take everything within a month.

Diane ran into the kitchen in her pink robe. Gerald followed behind her, and then Chloe, still half asleep.

"What happened?" Diane cried. "I heard you shouting!"

Sophia told them.

Diane's face went white. Gerald sat down heavily on a chair and put his head in his hands. Even Chloe was quiet for once.

"Why?" Gerald asked. "Why would Harlow cancel?"

"He said he found a better partner." Sophia's voice broke. "He wouldn't tell me who."

At that exact moment, Diane's phone rang. She looked at the screen and her eyes went wide.

"It's Brandon."

She put it on speaker.

"Good morning, Mrs. Whitmore," Brandon's smooth voice said. "I just heard the terrible news about Harbor Point. I'm so sorry."

"Brandon, how did you hear so fast?" Diane asked.

Brandon laughed softly. "I hear everything. And I want to help. I can call Mr. Harlow right now and bring the contract back. Today."

Diane almost cried with joy. "Oh, Brandon! Thank you, thank you!"

"Of course," Brandon said. "But you remember my condition, Mrs. Whitmore. I want an answer by tonight. Sophia signs the divorce papers, and I save your company. If she doesn't…" He paused. "Well. I'm sure the bank will be very nice to you."

The call ended.

Everyone turned to look at Sophia.

Then everyone turned to look at Ethan.

"You see this?" Diane pointed a finger in Ethan's face. "This is what you bring us! Bad luck! Three years, and this family has had nothing but bad luck since you walked in that door!"

Ethan didn't answer.

But he was thinking. Brandon knew about the cancelled contract within minutes. That was no accident. Brandon had made Harlow cancel it, so he could be the hero who saved the day.

It was a trap. And the Whitmores were walking right into it.

"Sophia," Diane said, "you will sign those papers tonight."

Sophia stood up. "I'm going to the office."

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard you, Mom." Sophia grabbed her bag and walked out without looking at anyone.

When the house was empty, Ethan went to the backyard and took out his black phone.

He had told Leo he would do nothing about Brandon Sterling.

He had changed his mind.

"Nina," he said when she answered. "Harbor Point. Who owns the land?"

He heard fast typing. "A company called Harlow Development, sir. But they borrowed three hundred million dollars to buy it."

"From which bank?"

More typing. Then Nina laughed softly. "Sir… they borrowed it from Crown Peak Investments."

Crown Peak. One of Ethan's own companies.

"Call Mr. Harlow," Ethan said. "Tell him Crown Peak would like to discuss his loan. Tell him the bank is very unhappy that he broke a signed contract with the Whitmore Group. Tell him that if the contract is not back on Sophia Whitmore's desk by noon, we will call in the full loan. Today."

"He'll lose everything," Nina said.

"Then he'll be smart," Ethan said, and hung up.

At eleven forty-five, Sophia's phone rang in her office.

At eleven fifty, she called home, screaming with happiness. Mr. Harlow had apologized. He had begged. The contract was back, and he had even added ten million dollars to it.

"I don't understand it," Sophia kept saying. "It's like a miracle. It's just luck!"

Diane, of course, told everyone Brandon must have done it secretly, as a gift.

Ethan just smiled and kept peeling potatoes.

That evening, Sophia came home early. For the first time in weeks, she looked happy.

She found Ethan's old brown coat hanging by the back door. It was dirty and torn at the sleeve.

"This thing is falling apart," she said with a small smile. "I'll put it in the wash for you."

"No, it's fine, I can—"

But she was already walking to the laundry room.

Ethan's heart stopped.

He ran after her. But when he reached the laundry room door, he froze.

Sophia was standing very still. In one hand, she held the brown coat. The inside lining was ripped open where the old stitches had broken.

In her other hand was a heavy gold ring.

On top of the ring was a royal crown. Under the crown, carved in fine detail, was a wolf with its mouth open, as if it were roaring.

Sophia slowly lifted her eyes to Ethan's face. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Ethan… I've seen this symbol before. It was on the news last night." She held up the ring. "It's the royal seal of Ardenia. So why was it hidden inside your coat?”