Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF WHITMOREThe next morning, Clara released the financial evidence.
News vans surrounded the mansion.
Investors pulled out.
Banks demanded repayment.
Vivian's company collapsed within forty-eight hours.
Ethan stood in the driveway.
Reporters shouted questions.
“Mr. Whitmore! Did you steal from your wife's trust?”
“Is your mother under investigation?”
“Did you threaten your wife?”
Ethan pushed through the crowd.
Inside, Vivian was screaming at her lawyers.
“We built this family!”
A lawyer corrected her.
“No.”
He closed the briefcase.
“You built a fraud.”
Vivian slapped him.
He walked away.
Ethan entered.
“Mom.”
She turned.
“Fix this.”
“I can't.”
“You're my son!”
Ethan stared at her.
“You taught me everything.”
Vivian froze.
“You taught me money mattered more than people.”
He dropped the keys to the mansion on the table.
“I'm done.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You're abandoning me?”
Ethan looked toward the window.
“No.”
May you like
He whispered:
“I'm finally abandoning the person you made me.”
