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CHAPTER 140 PART 1
The black Bentley slid through a dim street on the east side of Chicago, where the lamps buzzed and the sidewalks were cracked.Ethan sat in the back seat with his eyes on the passing storefronts.A shape stumbled out of an alley and into the glow of the headlights.It was a heavy, filthy woman in a coat so black with grime that it shone, and she was licking something off a dirty wrapper.Mrs. Hayes braked gently and the car stopped at the curb. Ethan stepped out into the cold night air, and Victoria followed him with her coat wrapped tight.The woman looked up. Her face was swollen and gray, and her gray hair stuck out in greasy ropes.She stared at Ethan for a moment and then her mouth fell open."Ethan!" she croaked. She lunged forward and seized his arm with both hands, and her black fingers sank into his tailored sleeve. "Ethan, it is me! Thank God, thank God!"Greasy handprints bloomed across the fine dark wool. Ethan looked down at them with a face that showed nothing at all."
CHAPTER 139 PART 2
Diane scrambled up from the road and threw herself inside. The stench came with her in a wave, sour and thick and rotten.Mrs. Hayes jerked back from the front seat with her hand over her nose. She hit the button and rolled down every window in the car."Good heavens," Mrs. Hayes choked. Her eyes watered, and she waved a hand in front of her face. "She smells like a dead raccoon in a dumpster."Victoria pressed herself against the far door and pinched her nose shut. Her shoulders were already shaking.Ethan turned back to the stall owners, who were staring at the whole scene with their mouths open.He pulled out his wallet and counted out a thick fold of bills."For the soup and the dumplings," Ethan said. He held out the money to the stout man. "And for your trouble. Take it, and forget this happened."The stout man took the cash and blinked at the number. He looked up at Ethan with awe and gave a quick nod."Yes, sir," he mumbled. "Thank you, sir. Not another word."Ethan walked to
CHAPTER 139 PART 1
Ethan looked down at the filthy hands clamped around his leg. He did not try to shake them off, and he did not try to help."Let go of me, madam," Ethan said coolly. His voice was flat, like a man speaking to a stranger on a bus. "I have no idea who you are.""Do not say that!" Diane screamed. She pressed her cheek against his shoe and sobbed into the leather."It is me, Diane! Your mother in law! You lived in my house for three years!""I think you have mistaken me for someone else," Ethan answered. He turned his face toward the crowd with a polite, almost bored look."Gentlemen, this woman has nothing to do with me. Do whatever you like with her."The stout man tapped the brick against his palm and grinned. The others closed in a slow circle, with their cleavers and spoons held high.Diane's eyes went huge. She let go of Ethan's leg and fell back on her knees in the middle of the road. Her whole body trembled like a leaf."No," she whimpered. She shook her head wildly, and a string
CHAPTER 138
Ethan opened the car door and stepped out into the cold night. Victoria and Mrs. Hayes followed close behind him.The figure on the ground was curled on her side with her arms wrapped around her head.A grimy hand stuck out from the rags, with a half eaten bun still clutched in its fingers.Her hair was matted with grease and trash. Her face was smeared black, and one eye was swollen shut.Victoria's eyes went wide. She lifted a hand to her mouth. "Ethan," she whispered. "That is her.""Diane Morgan," Mrs. Hayes muttered. Her lip curled with distaste as she looked down at the pitiful bundle. "Of all the streets in Chicago."Ethan's face did not change.He looked at the woman who had screamed at him for three years and called him a leech, a parasite, and a dog who ate at her table.Inside, he felt nothing at all.The stout stall owner reached them first, panting and wheezing. He pointed a thick finger at the figure on the ground, and his voice shook with fury."You people know this cra
CHAPTER 137
The black Bentley rolled south along the lake road, away from the lights of Lakeview Estates.Mrs. Hayes drove with both hands on the wheel and her bandaged arm resting stiffly on her knee.Victoria sat in the back seat with a thin folder on her lap. Ethan sat beside her with his eyes half closed, thinking."We cannot leave Morgan Pharmaceuticals without a face," Victoria said. She tapped the folder with one finger and frowned at the pages."The company is yours now, but the law still needs a legal representative to sign every paper.""It must be someone we can trust," Mrs. Hayes added from the front. Her eyes met Ethan's in the rearview mirror."A weak person will be eaten alive by those old vultures. A greedy person will steal from us in a month."Ethan nodded slowly and rubbed his temple. "I have been thinking about that. We need someone honest, and someone with a spine.""Do you have a name?" Victoria asked. She turned toward him with sharp interest."A few," Ethan replied. A fain
CHAPTER 136
Howard did not rise. He studied Ethan from beneath his heavy brows, and a thin, cold smile spread across his lips."The Green Phoenix Vine," Howard said slowly. "A rare plant. A precious plant. And you want it very badly, do you not?" He leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach. "I am sorry to disappoint you, young man. It is gone. My granddaughter ate it a long time ago. It did her a great deal of good. I would offer you a cutting, but there is nothing left to cut."Victoria's hands tightened. Ethan's expression did not change, but his eyes narrowed by a hair."I see," Ethan answered. He studied the man for a moment, taking in the yellow tint of his skin, the thick gray tinge beneath his nails, and the faint rattle that came with each slow breath. "Mr. Hale, I will say something that may sound presumptuous. You are not a well man. Your liver has been failing for years, and your lungs are not far behind. I can treat it. I will do it tonight, at no charge. Consider it a courte
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