The Secret Billionaire Son-in-law

CHAPTER 5: THE SINKING SHIP

The rain continued to lash against the glass walls of the penthouse suite, but the warmth inside the grand hall had vanished entirely. The elite guests who had come to celebrate with the Collins family were now whispering among themselves, casting looks of absolute disdain at the three broken figures left on the floor.

Chloe stood frozen in place, staring at the closed double doors. Her hands were trembling violently. The silence in her chest was louder than the thunder outside.

Ten million dollars.

To her family, that amount of money was a colossal fortune—a sum that could instantly rescue Collins Logistics from the brink of total ruin. But to Chloe, it felt like an execution order. By handing her that money as "room and board reimbursement," Ethan hadn't just paid a debt; he had severed their history. He had looked at her not as an ex-wife, but as a transaction he wanted to settle and forget.

Ding.

A sharp, crisp notification rang out from Chloe's purse.

Evelyn, who was still kneeling in the spilled wine, snapped her head up like a vulture. Her tear-streaked face twisted with sudden, manic hope. "Chloe! Your phone! Was that the bank? Is it the money?"

With numb fingers, Chloe reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. The screen illuminated her pale face, displaying a direct banking notification from the country's central reserve treasury:

[Transaction Alert: An inbound wire transfer of $10,000,000.00 has successfully settled into your account. Remitter: Vance Imperial Holdings.]

"It's here..." Chloe whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek. "He really sent it."

"Let me see! Let me see!" Evelyn scrambled to her feet, completely ignoring the mud on her knees, and snatched the phone from Chloe’s hand. The moment her eyes locked onto the string of zeros, her terrified expression instantly transformed into a greedy, ecstatic grin. "Ten million! Ha! Ten million dollars! Dexter, look! We're saved! With this money, we don't even need the Vance Group's petty contract! We can pay off the suppliers ourselves!"

Dexter, whose forehead was still bleeding slightly from slamming it against the marble floor, slowly stood up. He wiped the blood from his brow, his eyes flashing with a desperate, frantic greed as he looked at the screen. "Yes... yes! Aunt Evelyn is right! Ethan might be the Young Master of the Vance Group, but he's an idiot! He actually gave us the capital to survive!"

"Are you both insane?" Chloe finally snapped, her voice cracking with an intense, suffocating grief. She yanked her phone back from her mother’s grip. "Look around you! Look at the guests! Look at the contract on the floor!"

Dexter and Evelyn blinked, finally looking up at the high-society crowd.

The wealthy tycoons, the bank executives, and the city officials who had been trying to hand Dexter their business cards just an hour ago were now looking at them as if they were infected with a plague.

A prominent real estate mogul, Mr. Harrison, stepped forward, his expression cold as ice. "Evelyn, Dexter... I'm afraid our upcoming warehouse lease agreement is cancelled. My company cannot risk any association with an entity blacklisted by Chief Steward Thomas."

"Mr. Harrison, wait!" Dexter panicked, taking a step forward. "We have ten million dollars now! We can pay the deposit upfront!"

"It's not about the money, young man," Mr. Harrison said, looking at Dexter with pure pity. "It's about survival. If the Vance Group sighs, our entire city's market trembles. To do business with you is to court corporate suicide. Goodbye."

Within five minutes, the penthouse hall emptied out completely. The hundreds of guests left in a quiet, hurried rush, leaving behind the shattered glass, the spilled wine, and the crushed remains of the contract Ethan had stepped on.

Evelyn dropped into a nearby chair, the weight of reality finally piercing through her greed. "No... no, this can't be. We have the money... why won't they work with us?"

"Because Ethan controls their bloodlines," Chloe said quietly, her voice devoid of any emotion. She clutched her phone to her chest, her eyes growing determined through her tears. "I didn't want this divorce. You forced him to sign it. I am going to find him, and I am going to give this money back."

"Are you crazy?!" Evelyn shrieked, standing up. "That's our savior money!"

"It's his blood money to erase me!" Chloe yelled back, turning on her heel. She didn't care about her ruined dress or her family's frantic shouting behind her. She ran out of the banquet hall and straight toward the elevators, desperate to catch the man she had so deeply misunderstood.

Down in the VIP parking garage, the fleet of ten black Rolls-Royces was idling, their headlights cutting through the dim concrete structure.

Ethan stood by the open door of the lead vehicle, listening to Butler Thomas give a quick status update on the local branch. Just as he was about to step inside, the heavy fire doors of the garage burst open.

"Ethan! Wait! Please, Ethan!"

Chloe ran into the garage, panting heavily, her breathing ragged. Her hair was damp from the stray rain blowing into the lower level, and her eyes were red and swollen.

The two elite bodyguards guarding the car instantly stepped forward, their faces expressionless as they formed a human wall, blocking her path.

"Let her speak," Ethan said calmly, not turning around.

The bodyguards stepped aside. Chloe rushed forward, stopping a few feet away from him. She held up her phone, her hands shaking. "Ethan... take it back. Please. I don't want your ten million dollars. I don't want to be a stranger to you."

Ethan slowly turned his head to look at her. His gaze was entirely level, completely missing the warmth, the worry, and the love that used to be there whenever she had a bad day at work. He looked at her the same way a billionaire looks at a stranger on the street.

"The transaction is final, Chloe," Ethan said, his voice smooth and empty. "It has already passed through the treasury. The account is settled."

"I don't care about the account!" Chloe cried, a sob tearing from her throat. "For three years, Ethan... we shared a life! I know my mother was cruel, I know Dexter was a monster, but I... I cared about you! I gave you a home when you had nothing! Does that mean absolutely nothing to you now?"

Ethan looked down at his pristine, tailored cuff, then back up at her. "You gave a home to a penniless beggar because your grandfather requested it on his deathbed, Chloe. And for three years, I cooked your meals, cleaned your house, washed your clothes, and bore your family's boots on my neck to repay that kindness."

He took a step closer, his immense aura causing her to take an involuntary step back. "But tonight, you sat on that stage, watched your cousin grind his heel into my hand, and handed me divorce papers so you could chase a tycoon. You decided our worlds were different. I am simply agreeing with your choice."

"Ethan, I was wrong! I was just so tired of the fighting—"

"Take the ten million, Chloe. It’s the last piece of good fortune you will ever receive from me," Ethan cut her off, his tone flat and unyielding.

He stepped into the back of the luxury vehicle. Butler Thomas shut the heavy door with a solid, muted thud, completely cutting off Chloe's voice. The tinted glass rolled up, hiding Ethan from view.

"Ethan! Ethan, open the door!" Chloe banged her fists against the reinforced glass, weeping openly as the engine purred to life.

The fleet of Rolls-Royces slowly pulled away, navigating out of the dark garage and melting into the stormy city night, leaving Chloe kneeling on the cold concrete floor, utterly alone with a fortune she didn't want and a regret that would haunt her forever.