Rise Of The Scorned SON-IN-LAW

The Calm BEFORE THE STORM

That evening, Ethan returned to Blackwood Manor to find Vincent waiting with urgent news.

"My lord, Catherine Gregory has accepted your offer to purchase Gregory Industries. Her lawyers sent the signed documents an hour ago. The acquisition will be finalized by the end of the week."

Ethan nodded slowly. "How much is she walking away with?"

"After settling debts and legal fees, approximately three million dollars. A far cry from the three hundred million the company was worth before the scandal, but enough to live comfortably if she's careful."

"And the employees? What happens to them?"

"That depends on your decisions, Lord Blackwood," Vincent replied. "Gregory Industries employs four thousand people. You could integrate them into Blackwood subsidiaries, maintain the company as a separate entity, or liquidate the assets and let them find new positions elsewhere."

Ethan walked to the window, looking out at the darkening grounds. Four thousand people. Four thousand families depending on decisions he'd make in boardrooms they'd never enter.

"I want to keep the company operational," Ethan decided. "But restructure it. Better wages. Better benefits. Promote from within based on merit rather than connections. Turn it into the kind of company people want to work for rather than the kind they tolerate because they need a paycheck."

"That will cost money in the short term," Vincent warned. "Higher wages and better benefits will reduce profit margins."

"I don't care about profit margins," Ethan replied. "I care about building sustainable businesses that treat employees with dignity. If we can't afford to pay fair wages and provide good benefits, then we shouldn't be in business."

Vincent made notes on his tablet. "A noble philosophy, my lord. Though I suspect the board of directors may push back on such dramatic changes to compensation structures across the Blackwood empire."

"Let them push back," Ethan said. "I'm not interested in extracting maximum profit from workers' labor. I'm interested in creating value that everyone benefits from, including the people doing the actual work."

His phone buzzed with an incoming call. The number was blocked, but something made Ethan answer it.

"Hello?"

"Lord Blackwood?" The voice was female, hesitant, almost broken. "This is Olivia. Please don't hang up."

Ethan's jaw tightened. "What do you want, Olivia?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she said, her words tumbling out quickly as if afraid he'd disconnect before she finished. "For everything. For how I treated you. For taking your money. For mocking you. For cheating on you with Marcus. I was horrible, and I know saying sorry doesn't fix anything, but I need you to know that I regret it all."

Ethan was quiet for a long moment. "Why are you calling me, Olivia? We're divorced. It's over."

"I know. I just needed you to hear it from me. The news is calling me a monster. People are sending death threats. My friends have all abandoned me. I'm completely alone, and I deserve it. But I wanted you to know that I understand now. I understand what I lost."

"You lost a marriage you never valued in the first place," Ethan said flatly. "Don't pretend you're mourning me. You're mourning the wealth and status you could have had if you'd treated me better."

"You're right," Olivia admitted, her voice breaking. "You're absolutely right. But that doesn't mean the regret isn't real. Ethan, I'm not asking for forgiveness or another chance. I just wanted you to know that you deserved better than how I treated you. You always did."

She hung up before Ethan could respond.

He stood holding the phone, feeling nothing but a distant sadness for the woman Olivia had been. She wasn't a monster. She was just someone who'd been raised to value the wrong things, and now she was paying the price for that upbringing.

Vincent appeared in the doorway. "Olivia Gregory?"

"Yes," Ethan nodded. "She called to apologize."

"Do you believe her apology was sincere?"

Ethan considered the question. "I think she's sorry she got caught. Sorry she lost the opportunity to be Lady Blackwood. But I don't think she's sorry for who she is. That would require a fundamental change in values, and people rarely change that deeply."

"Wise assessment, my lord," Vincent agreed. "What will you do if she continues to contact you?"

"Nothing," Ethan replied. "She's no longer part of my life. I wish her no harm, but I also have no interest in any relationship with her. Let her rebuild her life however she chooses."

Vincent nodded approvingly. "Shall I have the kitchen prepare dinner? You've had a long day."

"Actually, Vincent, I was thinking about going out. Is there a restaurant nearby where regular people eat? Not a place that caters to billionaires, but somewhere normal?"

Vincent's eyebrows rose slightly. "My lord, you're one of the most recognizable faces in the world right now. After last night's coverage, you'll be mobbed if you try to dine in public."

"Then we'll figure out a way to make it work," Ethan said. "I don't want to become isolated in this world of wealth and privilege. I need to stay connected to regular people, to reality. Can you make it happen?"

"I'll arrange it," Vincent promised. "Give me thirty minutes."

---

An hour later, Ethan sat in a booth at a family-owned Italian restaurant in a middle-class neighborhood fifteen miles from Blackwood Manor. Vincent had arranged for a private room in the back, accessible through a side entrance, where Ethan could eat without causing a scene.

The owner, a woman in her sixties named Rosa Marchetti, brought out the food herself. Homemade pasta. Fresh bread. Simple salad. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just good food made with care.

"Mr. Blackwood," Rosa said, setting down the plates, "Vincent tells me you wanted to eat somewhere normal. I have to say, I didn't believe him at first. Why would a billionaire want to eat in my little restaurant?"

"Because I spent years eating in places like this," Ethan replied. "And I don't want to forget what real food tastes like. May I ask you something, Rosa?"

"Of course."

"How's business? Are you doing okay?"

Rosa's expression grew troubled. "Honestly? It's been tough. Rent keeps going up. Food costs are climbing. We're barely breaking even most months. My husband wants to retire, but we can't afford to sell because the restaurant isn't worth much. We're trapped."

Ethan listened carefully. "What would it take to make the business sustainable? What do you need?"

"I don't know," Rosa admitted. "Lower rent would help. But the landlord raises it every year. We've thought about buying the building, but we could never afford it."

"Who's your landlord?" Ethan asked.

Rosa named a commercial real estate company. Ethan made a mental note to have Vincent investigate.

They talked for another hour. Rosa shared stories about running the restaurant for thirty years, about the challenges of small business ownership, about the joy of feeding families and creating memories.

When Ethan finally prepared to leave, he handed Rosa an envelope.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Just a thank you for dinner," Ethan said. "Open it later."

In his car on the way back to Blackwood Manor, Vincent received a call. He listened for a moment, then smiled.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"That was Rosa Marchetti. She opened the envelope. You gave her fifty thousand dollars."

"I did," Ethan confirmed. "Along with a note offering to buy her building and lease it back to her at a fair rate. She shouldn't have to worry about rent increases forcing her out of business."

Vincent shook his head in amused disbelief. "You're going to bankrupt yourself if you keep giving away money to every person with a sob story, my lord."

"I'm not giving it away," Ethan corrected. "I'm investing it in people and communities. There's a difference. Rosa and her husband have spent thirty years serving their neighborhood. They deserve security, not constant stress about making rent."

"Your father would say you're being emotional rather than strategic."

"Maybe," Ethan agreed. "But my father also wrote in his journal that wealth should serve humanity. What good is having billions of dollars if I can't use it to help people like Rosa?"

They drove in silence for a while, the city lights blurring past the windows.

"Vincent," Ethan said eventually, "I want to create a program. A fund for small businesses struggling with rising costs. Low-interest loans. Grants for improvements. Business consulting. Something that helps people like Rosa keep their dreams alive."

"How much are you thinking of allocating to this fund?"

"Five billion to start. We can always add more if it proves successful."

Vincent sighed, but it was a fond sound. "You're going to give away your entire fortune within a year at this rate."

"I certainly hope so," Ethan replied with a smile. "What's the point of having wealth if it just sits in accounts accumulating more wealth? Money should move. It should work. It should create opportunities and solve problems."

"You really are your father's son," Vincent said quietly. "He used to say similar things. Though he was more cautious about implementation."

"Then I'll be the less cautious version," Ethan decided. "The world has enough cautious billionaires hoarding wealth. It needs more people willing to take risks on making things better."

When they arrived back at Blackwood Manor, Ethan found a package waiting for him in his suite. It was from his sister Lily, postmarked from Oxford.

Inside was a handwritten letter and a photograph.

"Dear Ethan,

I can't believe what I saw on the news. My brother is Lord Blackwood? It still doesn't feel real. I keep expecting to wake up and find out this was all a dream.

But it's not a dream. You're really there, living in a mansion, running a corporation, changing the world. And I'm here at Oxford, surrounded by brilliant people from all over the world, pursuing my dreams because you made it possible.

I wanted to send you this picture. It's me with my study group. We're from six different countries. Different backgrounds. Different stories. But we're all here because we got opportunities we never thought we'd have.

That's what you've given me, Ethan. Not just tuition and living expenses, but the chance to become the person I was meant to be. Thank you for never giving up, even when things were darkest. Thank you for protecting me and Mom. Thank you for being the best brother anyone could ask for.

I saw what you did to the Gregorys. Part of me was shocked. But another part remembered all the times you came home exhausted from working multiple jobs, and they'd still demand more from you. They deserved what they got.

But I also saw your speech about building a better world. About using power responsibly. That's the Ethan I know. The one who cares about people. Don't lose that person in all of this.

I love you. Make us proud.

Your sister,

Lily"

Ethan held the letter for a long time, reading and rereading it. The photograph showed Lily laughing with her friends, looking happy and confident in a way he'd never seen before.

This was what mattered.

Not destroying the Gregorys.

Not accumulating more wealth.

Not impressing the global elite.

But giving people like Lily and his mother and Rosa Marchetti the chance to thrive.

That was the purpose of power.

That was what it meant to be Lord Blackwood.