The Secret Billionaire Son-in-law

CHAPTER 4: THE PRICE OF REGRET

The silence in the penthouse banquet hall was suffocating. Nobody dared to breathe. The heavy, agonizing thud of Ethan’s bespoke leather shoe grinding the multi-million dollar contract into the spilled wine sounded like a death knell to the Collins family.

Chloe stared at the crushed paper, her mind spinning completely out of control. The puzzle pieces of the last three years violently slammed together in her head.

Ethan’s flawless posture, his refined manners that never quite made sense for a man from the streets, the way he never seemed genuinely broken by her mother's screaming insults—it wasn't because he was a coward. It was because he was a king walking among peasants, simply biding his time.

"E-Ethan..." Chloe took a shaky step forward, her hand reaching out instinctively, her voice cracking. "You... you're the supreme head of the Vance Group? Why? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Ethan turned his gaze to her. The warmth and devotion that used to fill his eyes whenever he looked at her were entirely gone, replaced by a calm, glassy indifference that cut her deeper than any knife.

"Would you have believed me if I told you, Chloe?" Ethan asked, his voice smooth and terrifyingly quiet. "If a man in a thrift-store suit told you he owned the city's largest conglomerate, would you have praised him, or would you have called him a delusional lunatic, just like your mother did?"

Chloe froze, her lips trembling. He was right. She wouldn't have believed him. She would have told him to stop daydreaming and find a real job.

"Young Master Vance!"

Suddenly, a loud, panicked cry broke through the crowd. Evelyn dropped to her knees, completely ignoring the shards of broken glass and wine on the floor. She scrambled forward like a desperate animal, trying to grab the cuff of Ethan’s tailored trousers, but two elite bodyguards instantly stepped in front of her, their cold glints warning her to stay back.

"Young Master Vance, please forgive my blind eyes!" Evelyn wept, her voice screeching with pure terror. She snapped her own cheek hard, the sound echoing through the silent hall. "I was blind! I am an idiot! I didn't know your true, divine identity! I only said those things because I wanted the best for Chloe, but in my heart, I always knew you were an extraordinary man!"

The guests in the crowd sneered in disgust at Evelyn's shameless flip-flop. Just twenty minutes ago, she had dragged him out like a dog. Now, she was kneeling on the floor, slapping her own face to beg for his favor.

Ethan didn't even look down at her. "Thomas, what happens to a business that insults the primary holder of the Imperial Card?"

Butler Thomas stepped forward, adjusting his white gloves. "According to the Vance Group's highest charter, any entity that threatens, insults, or demeans the supreme heir is permanently blacklisted. Furthermore, all subsidiary banks, material suppliers, and logistics partners under the Vance umbrella will sever ties with them immediately."

Thomas looked at his watch, his voice chillingly professional. "I have already sent the automated alert. As of exactly two minutes ago, three of Collins Logistics' major shipping contracts have been cancelled. Their bank accounts have been frozen pending a full audit, and their credit line has been revoked."

"No!" Dexter let out a strangled, breathless scream. He looked at his phone, which was violently vibrating with dozens of panic-stricken text messages from the company's board of directors. The stock was crashing. The company was bleeding out in real-time.

Dexter’s arrogant pride completely shattered. He fell to his knees beside his aunt, his face completely pale as he looked up at Ethan. "Ethan—no, Mr. Vance! Please! It was my fault! I kicked the display! I stepped on your hand! Punch me, break my legs, do whatever you want, but please don't destroy the company! My father will kill me!"

To prove his desperation, Dexter began slamming his forehead against the hard marble floor, making loud thudding sounds as he begged. "I am trash! I am a dog! Please have mercy, Mr. Vance!"

Ethan watched the performance with a look of pure boredom. "Twenty minutes ago, Dexter, you threw a stack of hundred-dollar bills at my face and told me to crawl away. Where is that arrogance now?"

Dexter didn't dare to answer; he just kept pounding his forehead against the floor until it bled.

Chloe watched her family degrading themselves, her heart twisting in an agonizing mixture of shame and despair. She looked at Ethan, the tears finally spilling over her cheeks.

"Ethan... please," Chloe whispered, her body trembling. "I know my family is terrible. I know I failed you by not standing up for you tonight. But for three years, I kept you clothed, I fed you, and I gave you a home when you had nothing. Even if there is no love left between us... can you please spare my family's company for the sake of those three years?"

The room went quiet again, everyone waiting to see how the supreme billionaire would respond to his ex-wife.

Ethan turned his head fully toward Chloe. He looked at her beautiful, tear-stained face—the same face he had cherished and promised to protect. Slowly, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the crisp, white document he had signed in the dressing room.

He held up the DIVORCE AGREEMENT.

"You're right, Chloe. For three years, you gave me a roof over my head, and I am a man who pays his debts," Ethan said calmly. He handed the document to Butler Thomas. "Thomas, transfer ten million dollars directly into Chloe Collins' personal account. Consider it my full reimbursement for three years of room and board."

Chloe gasped, feeling as if a physical hand had just crushed her chest. Ten million dollars. He was paying her back like a common landlord, completely erasing any emotional connection they ever had.

"As for Collins Logistics," Ethan’s voice grew icy cold, his eyes locking onto Dexter and Evelyn. "The Vance Group will not actively crush you. But our blacklist remains. Whether you survive on your own or drown in your own debts... depends entirely on your own abilities."

Without waiting for another word, Ethan turned around. His charcoal suit caught the light one last time as he walked toward the heavy double doors.

"Young Master, where to?" Butler Thomas asked respectfully, walking half a step behind him.

"The trial is over, and the dust in this city has settled," Ethan said, not once looking back at the crying, ruined family behind him. "Let’s head to the local branch office first. It’s time to see who else in this city needs a lesson in humility."

"Yes, Young Master!"

Two rows of elite bodyguards instantly swarmed around Ethan, shielding him from the crowd as he walked out of the penthouse. The doors closed heavily behind him, leaving the Collins family broken, broke, and drowning in a sea of absolute regret.