Chapter 1 - THE PAPERS GRACE WOULDN'T EXPLAIN
Grace's eyes moved once toward Vanessa's red dress.
Then back to Ethan.
Not anger.
Not jealousy.
Assessment.
“What am I doing here?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
Ethan glanced at the leather folder in her hand.
“And why are you with Pierce?”
Declan said nothing.
That made Ethan angrier.
Grace checked the time.
“Ethan, this isn't a good place.”
“You found me with another woman and you're worried about the place?”
Something almost like sadness crossed her face.
“No.”
She rested one hand beneath her stomach.
“I'm worried about wasting another five minutes.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Grace, I can explain.”
Grace looked at her.
“You don't need to.”
That was worse.
Ethan reached for Grace's elbow.
Declan moved first.
Not aggressively.
He simply stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Ethan stared at him.
“This is my wife.”
Grace answered before Declan could.
“Not for much longer.”
The lobby seemed to tilt.
“What?”
She opened the folder.
The first page was a divorce petition.
Filed that morning.
The second was a temporary marital-property injunction.
The third contained something Ethan didn't understand immediately.
NOTICE OF SPECIAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING.
CALLOWAY TRANSPORT SYSTEMS.
Tonight.
6:00 p.m.
He looked up.
“What is this?”
Grace closed the folder.
“My appointment.”
“With him?”
“With the board.”
Ethan laughed in disbelief.
“You aren't on the board.”
Grace's expression changed.
For the first time, there was something sharp beneath the calm.
“No.”
“Then why—”
“Because I own eighteen percent of Calloway Transport.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“That isn't possible.”
“It became possible six months ago.”
Declan checked his watch again.
“Three minutes.”
Grace nodded.
Then Ethan said:
“Who gave you eighteen percent?”
She looked straight at him.
“Your father.”
My father?
Richard Calloway had died eight months earlier.
He had left Ethan controlling interest.
At least that was what Ethan believed.
Grace stepped into the elevator beside Declan.
Before the doors closed, she said:
“You inherited the title, Ethan.”
A pause.
“I inherited the insurance against what you'd do with it.”
The doors shut.
Ethan stood motionless.
Then Vanessa whispered behind him:
“Ethan...”
He turned.
Her face had changed.
“What?”
“I think you need to call your CFO.”
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because if Grace really owns eighteen percent, your father changed more than his will.”
The elevator disappeared upward.
At exactly 6:00 p.m., Ethan's phone began ringing.
His CFO.
His general counsel.
His chairman.
Three calls at once.
He answered the chairman.
“What happened?”
The man's voice was tight.
“Pierce Global just made an offer.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Then:
“For the company.”
Ethan stared at the elevator.
“And Grace signed the opening resolution allowing them into diligence.”
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The divorce wasn't why she had come to the island.
She had come to decide whether Ethan still deserved to own the company carrying his name.
