The Drowned Heir Returns

Chapter 9. Choose: Me or Them

Olivia blinked. Then she laughed — soft, easy, like he'd told a joke.

"Our families haven't even met, Ethan. How could they be at war? You're thinking way too far ahead."

Ethan exhaled slowly. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

That wasn't the answer he'd hoped for. But he didn't know how to start. Where do you even begin with something like this?

The car rolled on. The ocean appeared ahead, wide and silver under the afternoon sky.

---

The beach was empty. Just sand, waves, and wind. No crowds. No noise. Only the sound of water pulling back over smooth stones.

Olivia jumped out of the car before it fully stopped. She ran toward the shoreline with her arms spread wide, her hair whipping in the salt breeze. She stopped right where the foam kissed her shoes.

"Oh, this is gorgeous," she breathed. The wind pushed against her face, and she closed her eyes, letting it wash over her.

Ethan walked up beside her. "Not as gorgeous as the girl standing next to me."

Olivia pursed her lips, bumping her shoulder against his arm. "Do I have to say it back?"

"No need. I already know."

They both laughed. It was light. Easy. The kind of laugh that belonged to a different life.

They sat down together on the dry sand, side by side. The sky was soft — not too bright, not too hot. A perfect afternoon. Ethan stared at the horizon and felt the weight in his chest press harder.

*This is why I brought her here. Not for a date. Not for photos. For this.*

He turned to face her.

"Liv. I didn't bring you here just to hang out."

Olivia's smile faded. She looked at him, and something shifted in her eyes. A flicker of worry.

"There's something I need to tell you. Something important. I've been waiting for the right moment, and..." He swallowed. "I think this is it. Right here. Right now. Will you listen?"

Olivia stared at him. Her fingers dug into the sand.

"Is this... is this going to hurt me?" Her voice was small. "It won't change us, right? Ethan, I love you."

"It might shock you. And it might change things. Depending on what you decide after you hear me out." His jaw tightened. "I hope you'll be on my side. But I can't force you. You choose. Me. Or your family."

Olivia went still. The wind blew a strand of hair across her face. She didn't brush it away.

"So it's true. Our families really are... at odds." She nodded slowly, bracing herself. "Okay. I'll listen. Tell me."

Ethan took a deep breath. Held it. Let it out.

*This is it. If I say this, there's no going back. And if she chooses them... I lose her.*

"Three years ago," he said, his voice low and steady, "your mother and my father tried to kill me."

Olivia's mouth fell open.

"What? Ethan, what are you—"

"My father is your mother's husband, Liv. Richard Carter." He let the name hang in the air between them. "They got married while he was still with my mother. My mother — Margaret."

Olivia's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes went wide, wet, searching his face for any sign of a joke. There was none.

"He never wanted me," Ethan continued. His voice didn't shake. It was flat. Dead. The way a man sounds when he's already grieved something a thousand times. "I was born deaf. Sick. He said I was useless. Said I couldn't carry on his business. So he married Sandra. Said he needed a *perfect* heir."

A tear slid down Olivia's cheek. She didn't wipe it.

"Sandra never liked me. Never liked my mother. She looked for every chance to hurt us. And the worst thing she did..." Ethan's eyes fixed on the ocean. Cold. Hard. "She ordered Richard's men to kidnap my mother. And throw me in a river. They injected me with poison first. Then they tossed my body in the water like garbage."

The sound of the waves filled the silence. Olivia's shoulders shook. Tears streamed freely now, mixing with the salt air.

"Ethan... I had no idea. Is that why you disappeared? Three years—"

"I was healing. Learning. Training. At the home of the man who saved me." He turned to look at her fully. His expression was unreadable. "I don't know if I can trust you with the rest. That depends on what you choose next. Me. Or them."

Olivia couldn't speak. Her hands trembled in her lap. She loved her mother. Even though they lived apart. Even though Sandra had remarried. She was still *Mom*.

"I won't force you to pick my side," Ethan said quietly. "But I need you to know — I'm going after them. Sandra. Richard. They took everything from me. They took my mother. I will make them pay. And I will find her. Whatever it costs."

He stood up. Brushed the sand off his jeans.

"If you choose your family, then this is over. You're not my girlfriend anymore. You're my enemy."

Olivia shot to her feet. "You're really breaking up with me? Just like that?"

"What else do you want me to do, Liv?"

"Forget it!" Her voice cracked. "Can't you just forget the past and be happy with me? Revenge won't fix anything. It'll just eat you alive. You'll live in hate forever."

Ethan laughed. A short, bitter sound. His eyes went sharp.

"Forget?" The word came out like a blade. "You weren't the one they poisoned. You weren't the one they threw in a river to drown. My mother was sick, and they *kidnapped* her. And those two are out there living their perfect little lives like nothing happened." He stepped closer. "You want me to forgive that? I can't. I won't. I will get my mother back. And they will pay. No matter what."

He turned. Walked away.

"Ethan!" Olivia screamed. "ETHAN! You're seriously leaving me?! You're leaving me for the second time!"

He didn't stop. His footsteps pressed hard into the sand, steady and final.

Olivia stood frozen. Her chest heaved. A broken sob tore out of her throat, raw and ugly, swallowed by the sound of the waves.

Then a figure appeared from the right. Aaron Brooks. He bowed his head slightly.

"Miss Reed. Mr. Carter sent me to drive you home."

Olivia stared at him. Then at Ethan's retreating back. Then back at Aaron.

"He's insufferable," she whispered. Then louder, her voice breaking. "Your boss is absolutely *insufferable*!"

Aaron kept his head down. Said nothing.

Olivia pulled out her phone with shaking hands. Opened the gallery. The last photo stared back at her — the two of them in the car, her head on his shoulder, both of them smiling.

She closed her eyes. The phone screen blurred through fresh tears.

*Ethan, what do I do? I love you. But she's my mother.*