Chapter four

Ethan walked into the mall with a small smile on his face. He had bought shares in the mall and now he could always shop for free, this was the kind of life he loved to live. All the workers already knew him, and they respected him properly.

"Good morning sir, what would you like to shop today?" A lady asked with a smile. The lady was beautiful and Ethan liked how respectful she was.

"Well, I want tuxedos. Show me the best ones," Ethan said.

The lady nodded. "Right this way, sir."

The lady, Mia, as her name tag read, led Ethan to the section for tuxes. She showed him the best ones they had, explained the fabric quality and which seasons they were best for. As she explained, Ethan found himself being pleased with the products she showed to him.

"Mia, which ones do you think I should pick?" Ethan suddenly asked.

The lady blushed as she stared down at the floor. "I would suggest you pick these ones, they're so comfortable and they suit your skin tone. We can just pick a few of them and test them if they're fitting perfectly."

Ethan nodded. "Find my sizes and pack it up for me. I'll be waiting in the reception."

Mia nodded. They all knew his sizes, as he left, she breathed out in relief and hurried to find his sizes and started to package them for him. Although Ethan was wealthy now, and his company was in the building level, he still dressed comfortably out and didn't go out with more than two body guards.

As he sat in the reception, clad in a plain tee and black sweatpants, he heard a loud excited voice echo around the mall, "daddy!" The girl screamed. Ethan's gaze moved from his phone to the source of the voice and his rock hard face broke into a sweet smile.

"Princess," he called, "oh my world!" Ashley left her mother's hand and ran over to where Ethan sat. Ethan hugged her tightly and carried her onto his thighs. "How are you?"

"You left, daddy. You said you were not gonna leave me, and you left." Ashley whined. "What are you doing here by the way? Did you come to buy something for me?"

Ethan smiled. This was the perfect time to show his wife the kind of person he now was.

"Ashley, down this instant. Stop moving close to everyone you see in the street," Cara warned gently. "Come now, let's get the dress for you."

Ethan smirked. "Everyone on the street, huh? Cara, she's my daughter."

"I don't know you," Cara stated, refusing to look him in the eye.

Ethan grabbed her arm and forced her to stare at him. "I'm coming for my daughter, I tell you."

Cara saw the aggression in his eyes and she felt fear creep into her heart. Ethan kept glaring until he heard Mia's voice behind him.

"Sir, here are the tuxes," Mia said gently.

Cara smirked. "Tuxes? Did your new boss send you to pick up his newly bought wears? You still can't afford a decent job, can you?" She shook his hand off her. "Don't touch me with those filthy poor hands."

Ethan chuckled. "Remember what I said, Cara. I'm coming for my daughter."

Cara rolled her eyes. "Mom was right when she said all you ever do is dream and dream. Your name should have been Joseph, since you tend to dream a lot."

Mia scowled. "Ma'am, please don't insult him. He's one of our-"

"Hush, now." Cara said, shushing Mia instantly. "I don't care what he presented himself as to you all, but he doesn't worth shit." After speaking, she turned and dragged Ashley along with her. Ethan watched angrily as his daughter turned back to stare at him with longing eyes. He knew that she would be suffering in the Wilson's house. He swore to get her back, and make Cara pay for the embarrassment.

"Sir, why did she insult you like that? Do you know her from somewhere? She's so rude." Mia stated and Ethan could pick up an angry tone.

"Mia, when you see people like these..." Ethan began, "don't bother explaining anything. Most of the time, they leave their common sense at home and step out of the house, insensate beings parading the entire place."

Mia giggled gently. "Sir, you're so funny. Here are your tuxes, I need to get back to work."

Ethan nodded and gave her a hundred dollar tip. He turned and walked out of the mall. His bodyguards held the door open for him, but he didn't immediately enter. He looked up and saw Ashley staring down at him from the section upstairs. He winked at her and she smiled at him. Once Cara noticed that Ashley's attention was onto something, she glanced down but only caught Ethan's clothes entering his car.

Cara scowled as she saw the body guard shut the door and then sit up front. The car was no ordinary car, and her gaze lingered until the car was out of sight. She was confused. Could it be, that Ethan actually had wealth? Or had he stumbled upon a genie or something? She laughed suddenly.

"Cara, you're going nuts. How can you even think that? Ethan can never be rich." She said to herself. She took the dress, paid for it and left the mall with Ashley.

-

Ethan stopped by the building of his company and saw how things were going. Surely, Henry's men were very capable and they were doing a good job. After supervising for a while, he decided to return home. As he neared his house, he changed his mind.

"Let's go to the Greg mansion first," he said. The driver nodded and changed direction. He drove them to Joe's house and Joe was pleasantly surprised to see Ethan. He assumed that since Ethan had gotten a hang of the business life, he wasn't going to show up again.

"Joe, what's up brother?" Ethan greeted in a very familiar way. "How is everything?"

Joe's wife stepped out with their four year old son and Ethan smiled.

"Ethan, I'm good. How're you? How's the company coming through?"

"Very well, Henry is a nice man. His workers do a good job."

Joe chuckled. "Ay, man, that's true." Turning to his wife, he asked, "Selena, where's Pat? Where did she run off to this time around?"

"Oh, she must have gone to the garden to play, you know how she is," Selena responded sweetly. Ethan loved how Selena respected Joe. She never disrespected him like the way Cara did him.

"Ethan, you're welcome. It's been long we saw you, what have you been up to?" Selena asked. "Darren, greet."

"Hello uncle Ethan," Darren greeted.

"Hey champ, how are you? Not troubling your mom and dad right?" Ethan asked. Darren shyly hid behind his mom and they all shared a laugh.

After exchanging pleasantries, Joe led Ethan to the balcony where they started discussing.

"Honestly, I don't exactly know how to run a company, but with all my father wrote down, I feel as if I can pull through," Ethan said.

Joe smiled. "Even I did not know how to run a company, but for the fact that I saw someone who was willing to believe in me, I believed in myself." 

Ethan stared at him. "How old were you when you met my father?"

"Eighteen," Joe replied. "I refused to go to had just finished highschool, I wanted to do whatever to make so much money and get back at my family. Your father led me to creating my own company and after paying him back, I started to further my education from the age of twenty."

"I had just finished taking my entrance examination when I got the call from your father that night. I had to deal with running a company, doing college, and monetizing all your father's properties as well."

"That must have been tough." Ethan murmured. "How were you able to cope?"

"Trust me, the company suffered for that year, and even the next. But from the moment I was done with monetizing your father's properties, I could finally give time to my studies and the growth of the company. By the time I was graduating, I had gotten a proper hang of the company. I did my masters and the Greg family summoned me home, threw me a welcome banquet, matter of fact, I inherited the family house."

"Money stops nonsense," Ethan murmured. "The saying is very true. Look at how everything changes money comes."

"Exactly, even your in-laws would change if they saw how rich you have become." Joe advised. "My guess is that you're making moves to claim your daughter."

"Not yet," Ethan stated. "I want to get a hang of the company first, then after that, I'll make myself known as the Parker Heir, and they'll automatically know that I'm coming for my daughter."

"There are several ways you can get back at them for all the years of mistreatment, Ethan," Joe said. "One of them, is to directly attack the thing that gives them the backing to mistreat people."

"Huh?" Ethan asked in confusion. "Can you elaborate please?"

"I'm talking about their wealth," Joe said. "One of the ways you can get back at them si to directly attack the source of their wealth. That wealth is the source of their power."

"You can even do so without them knowing that it's you."

Ethan smiled. "Well, this kind of revenge needs proper planning and execution. I won't want to do bother for now, my wife's family better know that I'm coming for them. As for Ashley, I must get my daughter back. But for now, let me focus on rebuilding my father's legacy."

Joe patted his back. "That's a good thing. For now, let's celebrate. By the way, I figured out some other companies that are very promising, you can make some investments there and buy shares too."

"Really? Show me!" Ethan said, enthusiastically. "I actually bumped into Cara at the mall today. When I told her I was coming for Ashley, she seemed to afraid, it was as though she didn't want to believe me. She even pretended to not know me, telling my daughter to not speak to strangers she meets in the streets."

"How bold of her," Joe murmured. "There's more to this, you know?"

"Yes, I know. Cara's mother is an overriding witch. She manipulates people to do her bidding, and that's why I considered marrying Cara again, but..." Ethan frowned. "Something just doesn't add up about her behaviour. Sometimes, she acts so nicely and makes me think that she actually does love me, other times, she acts up and it feels as though she's being forced to be with me."

"But if she's forced to be with me, then who could be forcing her? Her parents do not like me that much, they don't even like me at all, so who else could be the superiority in the Wilson family, forcing Cara to be with me?"

Joe went silent as he thought about what Ethan speculated. It was true that Alisa was the force in the Wilson family, she gave all the rules and her words were yea and amen. But she hated Ethan with a passion, and if she really hated him, how could she then also still force her daughter to coexist with him?

There was surely more to it than they could realize. Ethan's face held a deep scowl and it was obvious that he could not just forget about it. "Her actions particularly, when the sales attendant brought the tuxes I bought, they didn't seem like the Cara I knew."

"She was so different, mocking me with such bravery, I initially blamed it on the divorce, but now that I think about it, it isn't the divorce."

"Cara doesn't love me, Joe, she never did. So how come she put up with me all these while? There's somet

hing they know which I don't, and I will find it out."

Ethan had a determined look on his face and Joe recognized it as the one he knew Ethan's father by. Indeed, Ethan was his father's son.