Chapter 251: My Wife Wants to Pay Me to Kill

Still keeping the patients’ identities secret? It’s just the Monroe mother and daughter, isn’t it?

Ethan thought it over, then contacted two senior professors and took them with him to Easton General.

The moment they met his wife, all three of them signed a confidentiality agreement, accepted envelopes of cash, and were shown to the consultation room.

Ethan asked to see the patients. After a single look, he simply shook his head at his wife. There was nothing he could do.

Claire didn’t hold it against him much. She pulled him aside for a private word, and when she asked about the treatment of Julian Sinclair and his sister, Ethan told her everything.

Just before he left, she asked in a very low voice, “How much would it cost to get you to kill Julian Sinclair and the other one?”

Was this a test? Could Claire really bring herself to kill Julian? Did she think killing him would erase the fact that she’d slept with him? Could it erase the fact that Natalie was Julian’s child? It couldn’t. If she went through with this, it would stain her for the rest of her life…

Ethan turned her down flat. “Are you out of your mind? I work with you because I want money. But if I actually kill someone, I won’t live long enough to spend it. I’m in this for the money, not for blood. No thanks!”

“You really have no guts. Fine. Then meet me halfway—just leave a door open. Let my people in and let them do the job. Afterward, the worst you’d face is a negligence charge. You wouldn’t have to take the fall.”

“Hold on. Why do you want them dead? You’re rich—don’t throw it all away like this.”

That was what Ethan said out loud. In truth, watching his wife and Julian tear each other apart was exactly what he wanted most. But he didn’t want her killing anyone. He meant to keep Julian and his sister alive and torment them slowly, and to keep the proof of her affair alive forever. The harder she tried to erase it, the harder he would work to preserve it.

You cheated on me and betrayed me. Fine. Then I’ll make your heart pay for the rest of your life.

“It’s all so my husband will believe it was just a misunderstanding,” Claire said, “and that all my children are his.”

Ethan sighed. “But Dr. Hale… I mean, Ms. Lowell, I’ve heard people say men are actually pretty simple. You don’t need to deceive him. As long as he loves you enough, he’ll deceive himself. Right?”

“That’s true!” Her eyes lit up. This ugly man had actually hit on a profound truth.

“What matters right now,” she went on, “is finding my husband and changing his mind.”

Ethan didn’t say much more, and he didn’t ask anything else about the Monroe mother and daughter. On his way out, he saw several cars from Midland pulling into Easton General one after another.

The Monroes. Still haven’t learned your lesson? Push me too far and I’ll wipe you all out and feed you to the fish in the Westbrook River.

He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Back at the Integrative Medicine Center, Viv had sent for him, so he went to see her.

“Claire Lowell told you to go to Easton General, and you just went?” she asked, clearly displeased.

“You know what I went there for, so I didn’t do anything behind your back. I can stand up to scrutiny. The minute I was done, I came straight back. I turned down her invitations, and I turned down the women she tried to send my way. So don’t dwell on it. It won’t help your recovery.”

“Claire Lowell tried to send you women?”

“Doesn’t she keep a whole stable of them at the Scarlet House? She wanted to test this straight-arrow old square of hers. Too bad for her—she underestimated how loyal I am to you.”

Viv didn’t take him entirely at his word. She let her hand drift below his belt to check, and found him still very much ready for her. If he’d really been fooling around with other women, his body would have given him away.

“You need to have some principles,” she said. “Don’t let Claire Lowell use you. She’s a venomous snake of a woman. If she gets her hooks into you, you’ll die without even a grave to be buried in.”

“Exactly. Under all that makeup, women like her are nothing but skulls. I don’t want to end up like Ethan Hale—I’d like to live a few more years.”

Ethan let his own hands wander over Viv for a while. Once he’d given her a little satisfaction, he seized the moment. “So the Integrative Medicine Center can focus its resources on treating you, I want to take things a step further.”

“You want to be a department head, or a vice dean? Those need real credentials. There’s no way I can arrange that.”

“What if we reorganize the hospital’s medical work and set up an expert group to manage medical affairs? I could serve as special commissioner, or chair. The administrative side would stay with Dean Keaton and the others. With the Order’s strength behind me, and me acting as the Order’s medical representative here, taking the lead and coordinating resources—that should work, right?”

“Is that so? That could work. You have my support!”

What he was proposing was actually doable. Viv looked at him with pleasant surprise. He really was full of ideas.

Ethan made the arrangements at once. At the same time, he had people tighten security around the Sinclair siblings. He couldn’t let his wife actually send someone to finish them off.

The next afternoon, Melvin Lowell seized the Lowell Group’s corporate seals and signing authority by force, dealing Claire a heavy blow.

Over at the Integrative Medicine Center, Dean Keaton was suddenly struck by stomach pains. She curled up in her office, retching, unable to speak. Her secretary found her and rushed to call the emergency department. Tests showed food poisoning. Despite everyone’s efforts to flush the toxin, Dean Keaton never regained consciousness.

Just like that, the Integrative Medicine Center was left with a power vacuum.

Another day passed, and Dean Keaton still hadn’t woken. After a round of consultations, her family had her transferred to a major hospital in one of the big cities—New York, Boston, or Chicago.

The Sinclair family barely had to lift a finger to take full control of the Integrative Medicine Center. They also approved Ethan’s proposal and set up the medical affairs group.

The Sinclair Order didn’t make Ethan chair right away, though. Instead, they invited him back to Dragon Ridge—where the plague rats had been exterminated and everything sterilized and disinfected—to be assessed by the Order.

Ethan had his people keep a close watch on the Sinclair siblings, giving his wife no chance to silence them.

When he arrived at Dragon Ridge, he was first taken to Viv’s house to rest. That same night, he sat a written exam. The proctor was Grace Sinclair, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. She kept throwing him meaningful glances, as if to welcome him back.

Ethan couldn’t afford to do too well. He answered most of the questions correctly and deliberately missed the rest, landing somewhere in the eighties.

That night, Grace didn’t come to seduce him, and Ivy was nowhere to be found. So he went to bed.

The next day, he was taken to an old brick kiln up in the hills. The inside had been converted into a prison cell, and Kit Kearney was locked in it.

Kit’s death sentence had been set aside for now, but she couldn’t escape the torment of living. She’d been tortured to within an inch of her life and was in a pitiful state.

The Order wanted Ethan to give her a clean death. He had three options: a knife, a drug, or the starving wolfhound chained nearby.

He asked what the drug was. When he learned it was an extremely strong sedative, he chose to inject Kit with it.

And with that, he passed. Only afterward did he find out the syringe had held nothing but saline. The test had shown obedience and loyalty, but also mercy—all qualities the Sinclair family wanted.

He still hadn’t seen Ivy, but he knew she and the Order’s inner circle were living around the Patriarch’s house, on call around the clock for his treatment.

Back at the Integrative Medicine Center, Ethan was appointed chair of the medical affairs group, in charge of coordinating all medical work at the hospital.

After reorganizing his team, he wasted no time transferring Henry Keaton, Shawn Quincy, the critically poisoned Lowell family patients, and the others out of the hospital.

He kept reshuffling the doctors and nurses until the hospital’s medical operations were firmly in his hands. Meanwhile, his people bred another batch of plague rats on Dragon Ridge, so that the Patriarch didn’t dare let anyone from the Order’s medical line stray far.

For now, the Sinclair family had no way to plant their people inside.

Among the cleaners, the caregivers, even the volunteers, Ethan had placed his own men. Some posed as patients, treating minor ailments as if they were serious, with fake “family members” to match. All of them were there to watch his back.

That day, Ethan had the blind girl and the girl in the wheelchair come in for a checkup. He noticed a dog he was fairly sure he’d seen more than once.

“Is this your guide dog?” he asked the blind girl.

She said it wasn’t.

The girl in the wheelchair looked it over. “It must belong to someone in our neighborhood. I’ve seen it a few times.”

Ethan’s guard went up. He suspected someone was tracking the blind girl. A person couldn’t hang around her all the time without being noticed, so they’d brought in a dog to make surveillance easier.

Someone tracking the blind girl was one thing. What worried him was that he might have been followed too. He could change his face by pulling on his nerves and muscles with needles, but he couldn’t change his scent.

After thinking it through and getting the blind girl settled, he went to the pharmacy and the lab, whipped up a little something, and had one of his men use it to destroy the dog’s sense of smell.

He sent the two girls home first. The following night, he had people bring the girl in the wheelchair back to the hospital and operated on her knee.

The surgery was a complete success. If her recovery went smoothly, she had an excellent chance of standing up and walking normally again—though she still wouldn’t be able to carry anything heavy.

The success put Ethan in high spirits. The next day, he took Viv to see Julian and kissed her right in front of him. Julian was so enraged that the readings on his heart monitor spiked off the charts and set off the alarm.

Seeing Ethan keep the hospital running smoothly without a hitch, Viv’s opinion of him rose yet again. The man she’d found was a little ugly, but otherwise there was nothing wrong with him. And she’d very nearly let things go too far with him.

If Ethan had really let himself go, he would have had her long ago.

That day, he was working in his office when Laura Quincy knocked and came in.

“Dr. Hart—Evan, I’m begging you. Let me go see Julian.”

“Come over here and we’ll talk.”

Ethan beckoned her closer. The moment she held out her hand, he caught it—and not only refused to let go, but started gently stroking the back of it.

“You—you know what Julian and I are to each other, and you still dare do this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll report you?”

Laura tried to pull her hand back, but couldn’t. She still needed something from him. As long as he didn’t go too far, she could put up with a little.

From that, Ethan knew she wouldn’t report him—and that he could push things even further.

Cheap.He moved to the sofa and patted his thigh. Laura was no fool. She actually climbed right into his lap.

“What do you want to ask Julian Sinclair?” he said. “The Sinclair family has taken back all his money and businesses and put them in trust. He’s been stuck in the hospital so long he’s completely out of touch with what’s going on outside.”

“My—my family’s pushing me too hard. I’m afraid I might even lose my position in the group’s finance department. I want Julian to give me some advice. Evan, please, take pity on me.”

Steeling herself, Laura put on her most pitiful voice—and at the same time guided his hand to her chest. It was an enormous sacrifice.

“Looks like you really are in a tough spot, and I’m not an unreasonable man.”

Ethan had her change into a set of student nurse’s scrubs, then took her into Julian’s room.

“Julian—it’s me!” Laura threw herself into his arms. Tears streaming down her lovely face, she poured out how much she’d missed him and told him everything she was going through.

Julian did have a plan. It involved Ethan going to see a senior member of the Quincy family on his behalf and exposing that elder’s dirty secrets, so they could blackmail him.

Ethan agreed for the time being. He noticed Laura’s little gestures toward Julian but didn’t stop them—he even let them slide—then quickly led her out.

After making a few arrangements, he left the hospital with Laura to go find the Quincy family elder.

The man held a very high position in the family—top five, maybe even top three. With Ike Quincy in a coma and useless, and Shawn Quincy, the family’s pillar, liable to take a turn for the worse at any moment, the elder’s standing was rising fast.

But Ethan wanted more than a job for Laura. He also wanted the Quincys to pull out of the projects they had going with Claire.

Right now, Claire had more money than she could spend, and her partnerships with the Ashbys, the Quincys, the Keatons, and other families were tightly intertwined. If anyone in the Quincy family objected, Ethan would have the elder break off and form his own branch.

Laura was there the whole time. She could tell Ethan was overstepping, using the authority he’d been given as a license to do whatever he wanted, and she quietly made a note of it.

Once they were back in the car, she said, “Evan, you… you made a lot of demands that Julian never mentioned.”

“What, you think I was wrong? You think you stand a chance against Claire Lowell without knocking her off her pedestal first? Can you just ignore the fact that Julian Sinclair has three daughters?”

That was how Ethan put it. If Laura didn’t take the hint, he’d make her pay for it.

“No, I can’t. Julian and I are perfect for each other. That old hag Claire Lowell doesn’t deserve him! Oh—when can I see Julian again?”

“Again?” A smile tugged at Ethan’s lips as his eyes drifted to her long, shapely legs.

“Don’t be like that, Evan,” she said quickly. “I can’t do anything that would betray Julian. Other than that, I’ll keep you company however you want.”

One look at his ugly face and she knew exactly what he was thinking. He was a total lech, and she wasn’t the least bit interested in him.

“There’s something you don’t know. Julian Sinclair has been poisoned twice, and it’s done serious damage to his liver and kidneys. Even if he recovers, he may not be fully capable as a man anymore. Staying with him would be like being a widow while he’s still alive.”

“What? That can’t be. That’s impossible, right? You’re just trying to scare me, aren’t you?”

Laura was stunned. She was so young. She couldn’t live like a widow.

“When I can set up the next visit, I’ll let you know.”

Ethan didn’t explain any further. He parted ways with Laura and went back to the Integrative Medicine Center.

Two days later, at the Lowell house.

His mother-in-law hurried over, knocked, and pushed open the study door without waiting for an answer. Ignoring the fact that her daughter was on the phone, she said, “Claire, something’s happened. Something bad.”

Claire hung up and frowned. “What’s going on? Calm down and tell me slowly.”

“The Quincy family is splitting up,” Margaret said, “and they want to suspend their partnership with the Lowells.”

“Splitting up?”

The moment Claire heard that, her head began to spin. She still hadn’t sorted out the problem with the corporate seals. If anyone was going to split the family, it would be Melvin. Even threatening to expose his womanizing hadn’t forced him to back down. He’d sooner kick her out of the Lowell family altogether and make sure she left without a penny to her name.

She’d fought tooth and nail to build the Lowell family into what it was today. Being forced to walk away with nothing—she would never accept that.

After having her mother explain everything in detail, she said, “Mom, don’t you sense it? Someone is coming after me. They want me out of the Lowell family, and they want to break up our alliance with the Quincys, the Ashbys, and the other families. Whoever this is, they’re vicious.”

“Then who is it?” her mother asked.

Claire sighed. “I’ve gone over it again and again. The only person who hates me this much right now… I’m afraid it’s Ethan. He’s pinned every crime and every bit of blame on me. He wants me ruined, my reputation in tatters, left with nothing at all.”

Chapter 252: I’ll Give Her One Chance

Meanwhile, the girl in the wheelchair was recovering well. Ethan found the two girls a new place to stay and had Fran Foster arrange for them to move into the Foster Care Center.

A few days later, a middle-aged man Ethan had never seen before came looking for him, asking about the girl in the wheelchair. The man suspected the Integrative Medicine Center was hiding her and wanted Ethan to hand her over.

Ethan denied it. When the man refused to accept that, Ethan called the police. At that, the man abruptly changed his tune, said he wasn’t looking for anyone after all, and fled the hospital.

A trained fighter—and one who doesn’t want the police looking into him.

Ethan sized the man up: a deep, resonant voice backed by powerful lungs, quick and agile movements. He had to be a professional—ex-special forces, maybe. Ethan sent people to find the girl in the wheelchair and figure out whether the man was a friend or an enemy.

Only then did she open up. The man, she said, had come to track them down—to keep them under control and make their lives miserable.

The girl came from a powerful old-money dynasty in the mountains of Colorado. The elders of her branch had lost the family fortune and been persecuted by the winning side. As the younger generation, she and the blind girl had been crushed as well: their hands and feet broken, knees ruined, eyes put out. The winner took everything, and the loser was branded a criminal. The cruelest enemies were often family.

That day, Ethan got a message from Zoe Gould. Joy Tate had been helping out at her clinic for several days in a row, and she was insisting on seeing him. Once he’d made the proper arrangements, he went over.

He showed up to meet Zoe with his real face.

“Ethan, you came!”

Zoe hadn’t expected him to actually show himself, let alone walk right in through the front door. She didn’t know exactly where he was hiding, but she was sure he was still in Easton. Knowing he hadn’t left gave her some peace of mind.

“Ethan.”

To Joy, Ethan looked the same as ever—just a little paler, a little more reserved. She couldn’t read what he was thinking.

They exchanged greetings, sat down, and had some coffee.

Ethan got straight to the point. “What did you want to see me about?”

“I came to apologize for all the trouble and confusion my sister caused you,” Joy said. “She wants things to go back to how they were between you after your first deal. She regrets getting so deeply involved with Claire these past few months.”

“Rachel used Claire’s connections to secure her power and position in the Tate family,” Ethan said. “I couldn’t give her that. It’s only natural she sided with Claire. I don’t blame her.”

“But none of that would have been possible without the groundwork you laid for her, Ethan—the road you paved, dealing with people like Xavier Sinclair and Gregory Tate. Otherwise she’d never have had a shot at getting into the Tate family. She’d have ended up completely under their thumb.”

“We helped each other, and we both benefited. It’s not worth mentioning. If she’s willing to drop Claire and come back to help me, of course I’ll take her. But my reputation’s in the gutter right now. I’m the laughingstock of Easton. If she follows me, people will just laugh at her too.”

“No, no. You’re the person we admire most, Ethan. Before, you were just too kind, and people took advantage of that. But in the end they’re nothing but petty schemers. They can’t use you forever. What goes around comes around. You’ll see things through to a good end.”

“Spare me the pep talk. I know what I need to do and what I want.”

Ethan had Joy video-call her sister. He exchanged a few words with Rachel and gave her a job: use the Tate Group’s chemical companies to produce certain things for him.

The truth was, he didn’t need them. It was a test.

When he’d taken down Julian Sinclair and his sisters, he’d gotten more than the money in their accounts. He’d also gotten the biochemical labs they’d been running in secret, and some of those operations were hidden inside universities like Easton University.

The biochemical lab under Easton’s Grand Harbor Industries was just one of them.

At Easton University, there were two women—a professor in her fifties and a chemistry PhD around thirty—who were both Julian’s lovers.

Ethan had even gone to see them personally. He’d told them Julian was badly injured and seriously ill, that the money had dried up, and that they’d be wise to get out and go straight.

When Julian found out, he hated Ethan so much he could’ve ground his teeth to dust—but there was nothing he could do about it. In the end, he’d even gone along with how Ethan handled it.

So having Rachel produce these things was also a way of feeling her out.

Then he gave Rachel a second test: find a way to get Bee Blake drunk and deliver her to his bed.

“Ethan, you…”

Joy and Zoe both stared at him, stunned. They couldn’t understand how he could make such a crude demand.

“Relax, I’m not that kind of guy. This is to teach Bee Blake a lesson so she’ll stop jumping around the way she has been. If she still doesn’t get it and refuses to leave Easton, I’ll make her regret it.”

Ethan checked the time. Seeing that it was noon, he took the two women to lunch. After they parted, he put his disguise back on and returned to the Integrative Medicine Center.

Joy and Zoe waited until he was gone before getting in the car and heading back to the clinic.

On the way, Joy said, “Ethan comes and goes as he pleases, and he isn’t even worried about being found. He’s not really hiding—he just doesn’t want to see his wife. I was honestly afraid he’d lock himself away in some monastery. If he never showed his face again, we’d never hear from him at all.”

“Ethan isn’t a wanted criminal,” Zoe said. “He doesn’t need to hide. He just doesn’t reach out because he doesn’t want to be bothered. And in a way, not knowing where he is helps keep him safe. His wife’s been coming on hard—she’s set on dragging him home.”

“Claire? She’s got the power to do it. But she has plenty on her plate right now. The Lowell family’s splitting apart, and a lot of their projects are about to run into trouble.”

“That was bound to happen. She’s too domineering. Only the old, easygoing Ethan could put up with her. But now that he knows he was cheated on, his pride won’t let him give in again.”

“So tell me,” Joy said, “are we women better off being strong, or better off giving in to our men?”

“There are pros and cons either way. It all comes down to what you choose. If I could be with Ethan, I’d listen to him about everything. I wouldn’t try to be the strong one. I’d give him the respect he deserves.”

“You like Ethan?”

“Yes, I like him. What he’s been through, what he’s capable of, the way he looks—all of it. Of course, I know he might not choose me. But I like him anyway.”

As she said it, Zoe glanced sideways at Joy. Joy was married, so she had no business liking Ethan. As for Rachel, she could easily turn into a second Claire one day, and Ethan would never pick a woman like that.

Joy’s expression stiffened slightly. Zoe was laying her heart bare for her benefit. The message was clear: she and her sister had better not compete with Zoe for Ethan.

“Right,” Joy said lightly. “Once bitten, twice shy. Ethan got burned badly by Claire. He may never want to get married again. A while back he went to the monastery a lot—that says something about his state of mind.”

“I’ll make him believe in love and marriage again!” Zoe said.

In truth, though, she was leaning more toward her brother Leo’s suggestion: get Ethan into bed and make it a done deal.

But no matter which of them tried to win Ethan over, there was no getting around the mountain that was Claire Lowell.

Ethan finished hearing his informants’ reports and learned that his wife had left the Lowell Group building in very bad shape. At a small group meeting, Melvin Lowell had gone after her again, demanding that she hand over control of the Lowell Group.

Afterward, Melvin and his people had left too—but they’d gone straight to Easton General to pressure Ethan’s father-in-law, Richard Lowell, into signing over his shares.

Shortly before noon, Ethan’s office door was pushed open, and in walked his eldest daughter, Natalie.

“I want to see my dad,” she said flatly. “Take me to him right now.”

“Your mother already told us you’re not allowed to see him,” Ethan said. “Besides, if you want to see him, what are you going to pay me?”

“Don’t push it! I already gave you five hundred grand. I even gave you the sports car. What more do you want? Stop being so greedy! My mom isn’t stopping me anymore. She told me to come meet my real father.”

Natalie was thoroughly fed up with him demanding money at every turn.

“Don’t think you lost out just because I took your money. Once you see your dad, you stand to gain a lot more. Still, I don’t believe your mother would let you go.”

Ethan called Claire. “Your daughter’s standing right in front of me. She says you agreed to let her see her dad?”

“She’s grown up,” Claire said. “Let her do what she wants. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“So you’re admitting what happened with Julian Sinclair? Everything you said before is worthless now?”

His wife said nothing and hung up.

So in the end, you have to face reality. She was Julian’s child all along, and you still tried to force her on me. I have no reason at all to accept that.

After a moment’s thought, Ethan took Natalie to Julian’s room.

“Dad, I came to see you. How are you feeling?” Natalie went straight up to him.

“Nat, you’re here!”

Julian looked at the daughter standing in front of him and smiled. His condition was very poor, but his eyes were still gentle.

Blood really was thicker than water.

To Ethan, the way they interacted seemed completely natural. She treated Julian as her birth father, and he treated her as his own daughter. With a bond of blood like that, there was nothing standing between them.

It was all perfectly right and proper.

“Dad, you’re definitely going to get better!” Natalie said.

“I think so too.” Julian turned to Ethan. “Hart, give back all the money you took from Nat. She’s your niece. You can’t take her money. And out of the funds we’re holding for you, give Nat a share as well.”

Natalie’s eyes lit up. She turned to Ethan at once. “Uncle Evan, did you hear what my dad said? You have to give back the two million I gave you, and the car.”

You little brat. When did you ever give me two million? You sure know how to ask for the moon. But then, that’s exactly who you are—a creature whose eyes light up at the sight of money.

Ethan despised her silently.

Julian, however, believed his daughter. He glared at Ethan. “You’ve got the fucking nerve to demand two million?”

Natalie promptly twisted the knife. “He’s got the nerve for anything! He even tried to stop me from coming to see you. He and my mom have dinner together all the time—who knows, maybe he’s got his eye on her too.”

“Lying and stirring up trouble! Don’t you have any respect for your elders anymore?”

Ethan stepped forward, pinned her face-down on the hospital bed in one move, grabbed the clipboard with the medical chart, and spanked her.

“You dare hit me…”

Natalie was stunned. She’d never imagined he would actually do it, and he wasn’t holding back, either. It hurt like crazy. She turned to Julian for help. “Dad, look! He’s bullying me!”

To Julian, it felt as if Ethan were hitting him. His eyes turned vicious. He was so worked up that the numbers on the monitor shot up and the alarm began beeping nonstop.

“Hart, stop!” he said coldly. “Do you want to die?”

“Are you going to admit you were wrong?” Ethan ignored Julian and kept spanking her.

“Dad, he’s still hitting me…”

Natalie was a little dazed. This guy had lost his mind. He had some nerve—and when he hit, he really meant it.

“Crying to your dad won’t help. He can’t even protect himself. Admit you were wrong. Apologize!”

“Uncle Evan, I was wrong, I was wrong! I’m sorry!” Natalie couldn’t take it anymore and gave in.

“Still want the money?”

“My dad’s giving it to me.”

“Still want the money?”

“I don’t want it anymore.”

The pain had her eyes on the verge of tears. She hated this Evan Hart—this Ethan Hale—with every fiber of her being. She was already planning to have her family’s bodyguards take care of him the moment she left the hospital.

Only then did Ethan stop. He adjusted the equipment to silence the alarms, then turned to Julian. “Spoiling your daughter is your business. But that money is what I need to keep treating Viv, to live on, and to get back on my feet. It’s not to be touched. If your daughter’s short on cash, she can go ask her mother.”

“Hart, you…” Julian’s eyes were razor-sharp as he glared at him in fury.

“Get better first. Then we’ll talk.”

Ignoring him, Ethan sent Natalie out. His trusted medical staff went in and gave Julian another injection, putting him into a deep sleep.

Ethan walked Natalie down to the underground parking garage and said coldly, “Somebody like you—breaks her word, has no upbringing, and is rotten to the core. Don’t bother coming back.”

“You hit me! You yelled at me! Who do you think you are? Do you even know your place? What right do you have?”

“Ha. You’re the one who doesn’t know her place. As long as Claire Lowell and Ethan Hale aren’t divorced—as long as Claire and Julian Sinclair aren’t married—you’re nothing but the bastard Claire had with Julian behind Ethan Hale’s back. Don’t mistake shame for glory. Once you move in higher circles, you’ll see: people from respectable families will never associate with a bastard of questionable origins like you. And on top of that, Claire’s about to be kicked out of the Lowell family, isn’t she? Don’t take yourself so seriously.”

“You’re the bastard! Evan—you’re dead!”

The moment Natalie heard the word “bastard,” she reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, flying into a rage on the spot.

“You’re threatening me? Want another spanking?”

Ethan raised his hand as if to strike, and she scurried off in a hurry.

What kind of creature have I been raising all these years? What a complete failure of an upbringing.

But then, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Julian and Claire are exactly that kind of people. Of course their offspring turned out the same.

Claire Lowell. Julian Sinclair. I won’t let either of you come to a good end.

Ethan went back to his office and had a meal. Then his wife called.

“Your daughter went running back to complain about me?” he said.

“You hit her?” Claire’s tone was light.

“Yes,” Ethan said calmly.

“You called her a bastard?” Her tone had turned a little icy.

“Yes.”

“How could you say that?”

“I said it in anger, but I wasn’t wrong. Ms. Lowell, do you think I was wrong?”

“Dr. Hart, tomorrow’s sunrise is a beautiful thing. I hope you live to see it.”

The call cut off abruptly.

Chapter 253: So How Did You Play With Her Back Then?

I’m not the man I used to be.

Ethan wasn’t intimidated by his wife. The children weren’t even his. He had nothing left to lose.

Besides, Claire no longer held all the power she once had. She’d lost Clay Lawson, along with allies like Gregory Tate, Henry Keaton, and Shawn Quincy, and her strength had been badly weakened. She might still be working with the Monroes, but Easton wasn’t Midland.

On top of that, she had to deal with pressure from the Sinclair family and others. She couldn’t do whatever she pleased anymore.

Then an idea came to him out of nowhere. Should he use his wife’s threat as cover and simply disappear? If this identity vanished, Viv would throw everything she had at Claire, wouldn’t she?

In theory, that was the most advantageous move for him. He could take revenge on his wife and walk away with Julian and his sister’s fortune at the same time.

But he wasn’t ruling out the other path either. He wanted to see just how strong his wife really was.

Naturally, he wasn’t going to sit around waiting to die. First, he rooted out the medical staff Claire still had planted in the department, either warning them off or transferring them elsewhere.

That night, a seriously injured patient was brought to the hospital. The family demanded by name that Evan Hart treat him. The doctor on duty didn’t humor them. Once a patient was at the hospital, the family could make whatever requests they liked, but whether anyone listened was up to the doctors.

The truth was, Ethan had spent this whole period overhauling the Integrative Medicine Center’s medical and nursing system. He’d promoted capable doctors and had more or less stopped treating patients personally.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death were all part of life. He was a doctor, but he couldn’t let that role wear him down. He was also a leader, which left him a choice: save one person, or build a system that could save far more.

He chose the latter. He set out to build, at the Integrative Medicine Center, the system he believed would make it easiest for ordinary people to get care.

So, to protect this identity, he hardly ever treated anyone himself. He only directed the hospital’s resources.

If his wife wanted to make sure he didn’t see tomorrow’s sunrise, she’d have to get a killer close to him. But he stayed inside the hospital and had no contact with strangers. What chance did she have?

He made it through the night without a scratch. Just before dawn, he went to the area near his wife’s mansion. Facing the first thin light of sunrise, with her house in the background, he took a selfie and sent it to her.

“Thanks for the reminder, Ms. Lowell. You were right—the sunrise really is beautiful.”

By the time her bodyguards came rushing out to check, he was long gone.

After he started his shift, Ethan called the new head of Easton General—William Lang, who had just been brought back out of retirement.

“Dean Lang, I have something to discuss with you. I want your hospital to transfer Richard Lowell—Chairman Lowell—over to me. I’ll put together a team to treat him.”

“Chief Hart, that’s asking a bit much. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

Dean Lang hung up, then reported the call to Claire and stepped up the watch on Richard.

When Claire heard, she was shocked and furious. She sent people to protect her father. She also called Ethan, only to be told he was out on ward rounds, so she sent Sophie to the Integrative Medicine Center in person.

Meanwhile, Ethan had indeed gone into the treatment area, but what he was doing there was far from proper. Right in front of Julian, he gave Viv a long, deep kiss.

Julian knew Ethan was provoking him, but he could barely take care of himself. He wanted to punish Ethan and simply didn’t have the power. What left him most speechless was that his sister had taken Ethan’s side completely. He’d reminded her more than once not to forget she was a Sinclair, but she’d only said that since she’d chosen Evan, she would stand by him no matter what. She’d choose him unconditionally and support him in building a career.

He’d scolded her for letting love rot her brain—but he couldn’t help seeing Ethan in a new light.

“Hart, you’re not as simple as you look. You went after Ivy because you wanted to get close to my sister and the Sinclair family, didn’t you?”

After Viv left, Julian kept Ethan behind to question him alone.

“Everybody wants to climb the ladder. I’m really a very simple man. I came from nothing and should have lived an ordinary life, but Ivy and Viv gave me a chance. So I refuse to settle for being ordinary forever. I’m grateful to all of you.”

That was what Ethan said. What he meant was something else entirely: And the way I’ll repay that kindness is by leaving your family ruined, your people dead, and your legacy wiped out.

“You’d better stay grateful. Otherwise, whatever the Sinclair family has given you, no matter how much, will be taken back.”

Julian had to admit that, right now, he somewhat admired him. Ugly, but ambitious. And from the look of things, he knew how to play the game—he’d won Viv’s heart, and through her, the siblings’ money.

“Right now, I’m hoping the Sinclair family will protect me and help me get through the crisis in front of me,” Ethan said, staring at him. “Yesterday I helped you teach your eldest daughter a lesson, and you didn’t say a word. But your woman, Claire Lowell, isn’t happy. She’s threatened to finish me off.”

“Claire wants to finish you off?” Julian was a little surprised.

“That’s right. Last night I just played it safe and hid—otherwise her people would’ve killed me right here in the hospital. You got her to have three kids for you. You should have her completely under your thumb. Or maybe you could put in a good word for me?”

“You’re the Sinclair family’s future son-in-law. She wouldn’t dare touch you,” Julian said.

Ethan sighed and shook his head.

Julian gave a soft snort. “What’s that supposed to mean? Countless people would kill to marry into the Sinclair family, and you’re not satisfied?”

“I thought you’d give me some of your people to command. Then I could go tie up Claire Lowell and teach her that the Sinclair family’s son-in-law isn’t someone to mess with.”

“Right now, all of the Sinclair family’s people should be under the Patriarch’s control…” Julian said coldly.

“What about the ones you built up on your own? Bodyguards, fighters, friends, people you trust. You don’t have a single one?”

“No.”

“There’s no way you have none. You just don’t want to hand them over for me to waste. You’re planning to make a comeback once you’re discharged, aren’t you?”

Julian snorted and didn’t answer. He’d listened to his sister and given Evan the money, and he already regretted it a bit. If he handed over his connections and resources too, he’d truly have nothing left.

“Fine,” Ethan said. “I won’t push. Julian, what exactly is Claire Lowell to you? You had her bear your children, but you won’t marry her. If you don’t want her anymore, just give her to me.”

“Hart, have I been cutting you too much slack?”

Ignoring Julian’s furious glare, Ethan went on. “Actually, Viv’s fine with it. She knows her condition—she can’t give me children—so she agreed I could find another woman as a surrogate, or just have someone else bear a child for me. I’ve thought it over and over. The most beautiful woman in Easton is Claire Lowell, and she happens to be your woman. If you let me have her, it’s keeping it all in the family, isn’t it?”

“When I recover, the first person I’ll finish off is you. And don’t think Viv can stop me!”

“Look at you, getting angry again. I was just talking. If you don’t like it, forget I said anything. Besides, Claire is technically Ethan Hale’s woman too. If I wanted to make a move on her, I’d have to ask Ethan Hale first.”

“Ethan Hale? I’ll finish him off too!”

“Oh? You want to finish him off too?”

Ethan was rather surprised. I’m right here in front of you. Go ahead, then.

“I’ve figured it out,” Julian said. “He must be the one who beat me up.”

“Why? Why would Ethan Hale beat you up? Because you slept with his wife? Then you really had it coming. If you wanted to sleep with Claire so badly, why didn’t you marry her? A man of your standing bullying a nobody like Ethan Hale—that’s beneath you.”

“Hart, whose side are you on? Don’t forget where you stand.”

“Yours, of course. You’re my future brother-in-law.” Ethan chuckled.

Then his tone shifted. “Since Ethan Hale crossed you, I’ll help you get even—you give me his wife, Claire. So tell me, how did you play with her back then? I’ll take notes.”

Viv had been worried about her brother and her lover. She’d told the medical staff to keep an eye on things and had Evan come see her as soon as he could.

When she saw that he was completely unharmed, she realized she’d been overthinking it. Her brother could barely take care of himself. How could he possibly hurt her man?

“Did my brother do anything to you?” she asked.

Ethan first let his hand slide over her chest. “I talked to him about two things.”

A strange tingle ran through Viv’s body at once. Two things. Could it really be such a coincidence?

“First, I told him to hand his people over to me to manage. He refused. He wants to keep them for when he’s discharged, so he can take another shot at his career. Can you call on your brother’s people?”

“I can’t. Truth is, he doesn’t have that many people on the outside anyway. The Sinclair family has a rule: you can’t build up a private force past a certain size, in case it grows too big to control and undermines the family’s authority. Besides, raising your own men takes a huge investment. Fair-weather hangers-on are useless no matter how many you collect. If you want to get anything done, you have to rely on people you’ve trained yourself.”

Ethan nodded and went on. “Second, I asked him about Claire Lowell. From what I could tell, he’s torn. He wants to send her over for me to play with, but he’s not sure he can make it happen.”

“You men are all filthy pigs, every last one of you!”

Viv was a little annoyed. She wanted to push his hand away but didn’t have the strength.

“You think I’m an idiot? How old is Claire Lowell? She’s had three kids. She’s past her prime. You think I can’t tell which of you treats me better? Comparing her to you is an insult to you. Viv, I was only testing whether your brother trusts me. And he doesn’t. In this whole world, you’re the only one who trusts me.”

“As long as you know that.”

Viv was very pleased with his attitude, and with how well his actions matched his words.

The medical staff came to tell them Sophie had arrived. Ethan told Viv to focus on her treatment, then went to his office.

“Ms. Lowell sent you to answer my request?” he said bluntly. “She’s agreed to let you have my children?”

Sophie found everything about him disgusting—his words, his manner. She gave a soft snort. “You just took office and you’re already this cocky. Aren’t you afraid someone will report you for misconduct?”

“So you’re going to go public about what happens between us? If you don’t, who would know? Plenty of people file complaints, but they still need evidence. Otherwise it’s slander. When the time comes, will you testify against me in court?”

Sophie realized he really wasn’t the least bit afraid. He truly lived up to the saying: when you’re that ugly, you’ve got no pride left to lose.

With a face like that, he’s already a walking disgrace. What’s a little more humiliation to him?

“I want to put you away,” she said.

“Likewise.” Ethan gave a wicked little smile.

Creep.

Sophie knew exactly what he wanted—to get her pregnant. He was really dreaming.

“Let’s get back to business,” she said. “Ms. Lowell would like to invite you to dinner to repair your working relationship.”

“A trap dressed up as a dinner party? Sorry, I’ll pass. I’m still pretty upset that she wanted to make sure I never saw today’s sunrise. I’m the Sinclair family’s son-in-law. Threatening me is threatening the Sinclair family. I might be able to let it go, but my in-laws won’t.”

“Is that your backing talking?”

“Isn’t it?”

Sophie smiled coldly and silently mouthed the word “dog” at him.

But Ethan was no fool. His voice turned cold as well. “Ms. Sterling, you’re nothing but a hired hand. I’ve cut you slack over and over. I hope you know better than to push your luck. Are you really going to make me break you? Because by then it’ll be too late for regrets.”

You wouldn’t dare.

“You’re a lawyer, but all you do these days is clean up Claire Lowell’s messes. You lost your principles a long time ago.”

“Then go ahead and try. Let’s see whether the law protects me or not.”

“Of course the law protects you. Otherwise I’d have dealt with you long ago. The reason I haven’t used force is that I’m giving you the chance to come to me willingly. And if I wanted to ruin you, I wouldn’t have to lay a finger on you myself. Just picture it: you go to a banquet, you get completely wasted, you lose control after a few drinks—and it just so happens someone takes pictures, and those pictures just so happen to leak, and they just so happen to spread everywhere. Would you even be worth my attention after that?” He chuckled.

“I’m only here to deliver a message!”

Caught in his dark smile—and that ugly face of his—Sophie suddenly felt a chill run through her whole body. Goosebumps rose from head to toe.

“Just delivering a message, huh? Then take one back to Claire Lowell. William Lang of Easton General isn’t fit to come out of retirement. Tell her to call her dog back. Easton General belongs to the Order’s medical line.”

Ethan tossed Sophie several photos of Dean Lang’s past misdeeds. “The internet never forgets. I’ve also got photos here of Claire Lowell’s husband, Ethan Hale, fooling around in the hospital dorm. If I drag those old stories back up, I’d say repairing things with Ethan Hale is only going to get harder for her.”

“Don’t you dare do anything stupid!”

Sophie hadn’t expected Evan Hart to have tricks like this up his sleeve. An ordinary man with no background—give him the Sinclair family’s platform, and he’d shot straight up into the sky.

She went back to report.

Before long, Ethan got a call from his wife. She spoke first. “Dr. Hart, I underestimated you.”

“Not at all. The old me really wasn’t worth mentioning. No matter how hard I racked my brains or how many tricks I tried, I got nowhere. Completely mediocre. But now I’ve become the Sinclair family’s son-in-law overnight, and I’ve discovered that my ideas can actually become reality—and make a huge impact. You of all people should know firsthand how powerful the Sinclair family is. You carried on a secret affair with Julian Sinclair and gave him three daughters, and in just over ten years you went from an inexperienced girl in the Lowell family to the richest person in Easton.”

He continued, “If you laugh at me, that’s the pot calling the kettle black. Why would someone standing on the summit mock the climber still struggling halfway up?”

“My success has nothing to do with Julian Sinclair. There’s nothing between us.”

“I won’t say you’re just being stubborn, but you can’t deny the Sinclair family helped you quietly along the way. If you didn’t rely on them, who did you rely on? Ten or twenty years ago, the Lowell family really wasn’t anything special.”

“I relied on myself.”

“That I believe. Your talent, your beauty—those are yours. There’s nothing wrong with relying on yourself.”

“And your recent rise?” she shot back. “Didn’t you rely on yourself?”

“No, no. I’m relying on the Sinclair family.”

Ethan let out a cold laugh. His voice was hoarse, but it had a cutting edge to it.

“Is this call about Ms. Sterling, or about Dean Lang? Relax. Right now I only have eyes for Viv. I’m not interested in other women—I wouldn’t even dare. But I do have a duty and a mission: to make the medical line stronger. So as for old William Lang, if he’s retiring, let him retire.”

“We only just brought him back, and now you want him gone? Won’t that humiliate him completely?”

“Right now, bowing out while he’s ahead is the smart way to protect himself. Otherwise he really will lose every shred of dignity. My medical line is determined to take Easton General.”

“Evan Hart, you really are aggressive.”

“Aggressive? I thought you could see what I’m after. Taking Easton General isn’t the end goal. I won’t stop there. Next come Easton Memorial, St. Luke’s, Easton Women and Children’s, the state specialty hospital, Ridgeview Psychiatric, and so on. Easton’s entire medical world should come under the unified management of the Order’s medical line.”

He didn’t forget to jab at her weak spot, either. “Your father is still at Easton General. Do you really think if you wait for Dr. Hale to show up, you’ll be able to catch him? Stop pinning your hopes on Dr. Hale. If you ask me, you should divorce him right away and marry Julian Sinclair. Then I could call you sister-in-law.”

Chapter 254: Whoever Tied the Knot Has to Untie It

On the other end, Claire hung up and sank into thought.

Sophie suddenly had a bad feeling—a thought that made her blood run cold. Her boss was going to throw her to the wolves. She’d send her off to keep that ugly freak Evan Hart company, maybe even have his children.

She was about to ask when an assistant messaged her. People from the Lowell family had come to make trouble again, still fighting over control of the Group.

“Melvin Lowell’s people stormed Business Unit Three,” Sophie said quietly. “Manager Zane got a full cup of coffee thrown in his face. I told our people not to fight back. Or should I go over and handle it?”

Claire frowned. It had been one thing after another lately, and she was exhausted from dealing with all of it. “Go ahead.”

She took out her car keys, getting ready to leave.

“Claire, where are you going?” Sophie asked.

“To see Zoe Gould. I want to talk to her and get her to convince Hale to come out. I need to have a real talk with him. Whoever tied the knot has to untie it. As long as things with Hale aren’t settled, I’ll always be on the back foot.”

“Are you really going to get divorced?”

Claire didn’t answer. She told Sophie to keep an eye on the company and left.

When she got to Zoe’s clinic, she found Joy Tate there too. She was a little taken aback, but it made sense. Rachel Tate had already teamed up with Ethan to burn down her building, so naturally they’d grown closer.

“Get in touch with Ethan Hale. I want to talk to him. There are some things I need to settle with him.”

She sat down in a chair off to the side, perfectly composed. “If he won’t come see me, or even call me, then I’ll just stay right here.”

Zoe and Joy exchanged a look. Both of them tried calling Ethan, but his phone was off. All they could do was leave him a message on the forum and hope he’d reply when he saw it.

“You should just go home,” Zoe told Claire. “If Ethan doesn’t want to contact you, he won’t come out no matter how long you sit here—let alone get in touch. You know better than anyone how much you’ve hurt him.”

“How have I hurt him?” Claire shot back. “What has he lost? If he’s so pitiful, why is he hiding and refusing to see me? If his conscience is clear, he should come find me and talk it out face-to-face.”

“When he was right in front of you, did you ever talk to him? Now you’re trying to pressure him with your money and status again, and then you’ll say you still love him and use marriage and morality to tie him down? He’s tired. He’s really tired. I’m begging you, let him go.”

Zoe took two copies of a divorce agreement out of a drawer. Ethan had left them there, already signed. All Claire had to do was sign, and they’d take effect.

Claire looked at them and tore them to shreds on the spot. “He can forget it. Till death do us part—and even death won’t part us. He’s my man, and I’m his woman, in this life and whatever comes after. Divorce? Not a chance. Zoe, I can see you have feelings for Ethan, but stop dreaming. He doesn’t want you.”

“You…”

Zoe found herself completely outmatched.

Joy stepped in to back her up. “Ms. Lowell, I can’t agree with that. Ethan is a free man, not your personal property. And I doubt you even know what kind of woman he likes. Zoe is young—that’s where you can’t compete. Youth means beauty, including the ability to give Ethan sons and daughters. And one more thing: maybe Ethan wants a fresh start with someone new.”

“If you have something to say, say it straight,” Claire said. “No need to beat around the bush or take veiled shots. My daughters are Ethan’s and mine. No one knows that better than I do, and no one has the right to point fingers at me or my girls.”

“You really won’t admit anything, will you? Then you’d better figure out how to explain yourself to Ethan—until he accepts it,” Joy said.

Zoe said nothing more. As long as Ethan stayed married, she could only love him in secret, and in front of his wife she’d always have to keep her head down.

Claire really did stay and wait at the clinic.

In fact, Ethan had been tipped off the moment she left the Group, so he knew she’d gone to Zoe’s clinic.

He sighed. What else is there to say? You won’t admit you lied to me and cheated on me, and you still want me to come back so you can boss me around. What’s the point?

He didn’t show up, and he had no intention of calling. Instead, he turned up the pressure and forced William Lang to step down at Easton General. When he heard that Dean Lang had “collapsed from exhaustion” in the operating room, he knew the old man was as sensible as ever.

He immediately sent a message to the Order proposing a plan to take over Easton General. At the same time, he wheeled Viv into Julian’s room to get Julian to help him with the Easton General business.

Only then did Viv realize that Ethan’s ambitions went beyond running the Integrative Medicine Center. He had his eye on Easton General too.

Julian saw right through him. “Careful you don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

“You think I’m doing this for myself? I’m doing it for the Order, for the Sinclair family, and for Viv. You won’t help me, and you’re still making snide remarks? When I do well, all of you do well. And only when you all do well can I do even better.”

Viv was moved all over again. “Julian, we should support Evan.”

Viv, you idiot. This man is using you. He’s nowhere near as good as you think.

“What is it you’re ultimately after?” Julian asked.

“I want to become Head of the Order and hold the Serpent Staff. You’ve given me this platform. I can’t miss my one shot at beating the odds and changing my fate. Only by climbing higher can I repay you all.”

“You really are ambitious.”

“If I didn’t have some real ability, how could any of you respect me?”

Ethan kissed Viv again and whispered something softly in her ear. She instantly turned shy, and her face flushed hot despite herself.

“How am I supposed to trust you?” Julian said.

“I passed the loyalty test on Dragon Ridge. I’m loyal to the Order, and I’m loyal to the Sinclair family. If you ever take the Patriarch’s place, I’ll lead the whole Order in pledging loyalty to you—or we’ll put you in that seat ourselves.”

Julian’s pupils contracted. Succeeding the Patriarch and becoming head of the family outright—if he said he wasn’t tempted, he’d be lying. But he didn’t believe Ethan.

Viv was stunned, but a moment later she was fired up. “Julian, I believe Evan can do it.”

“I have to,” Ethan said. “I’ve already crossed the Rubicon. There’s no turning back. If I fail, I’ll die trying.”

“What a nice pipe dream,” Julian said coldly. “Your Order can’t even cure me, and you’re going to make me head of the family? In my dreams?”

“Your condition isn’t as serious or as hopeless as you think. If you hadn’t been poisoned, you’d have recovered and been discharged by now. Haven’t you noticed you’re safer in the department I run? People like Kit Kearney will never set foot in here again. But if you won’t put in the effort and back me now, then yes—you’ll only ever get there in your dreams.”

He kissed Viv once more and left her there to work on her brother.

Viv understood. Once Ethan was gone, she asked Julian outright, “What are you still hesitating for? If you don’t take this gamble now, you’ll never get another chance to turn things around.”

“I don’t trust Evan Hart. And don’t you let him play you, either.”

“Then test him.”

Ethan knew nothing about the tests. Later, when he tried to get information out of Viv, she didn’t let anything slip.

But after nightfall, he caught someone sneaking around, trying to get into the ICU observation room. Thinking it was one of his wife’s people, he had his men work with security to grab the intruder.

He didn’t resort to any off-the-books interrogation. He handed the man over to the officers at the local precinct.

The next day, while Ethan was checking Zoe’s messages—his wife had gone back to wait for him again—a critically ill patient was brought in, and he was asked to save them. He didn’t take the case himself. He assigned it to other specialists.

He also got phone calls from people claiming to be Julian’s friends, saying they were in financial trouble and asking him to wire them money. Worse, some people claiming to be from the Sinclair family demanded he pay them.

What baffled him most was that someone actually tried to abduct him right there at the hospital and extort money from him.

Outside the hospital, people had tracked down his men who were posing as patients’ family members and tried to bribe them for their visitor passes, so they could get into the inpatient wing at night. Then staff in the department reported that some family members had in fact been swapped out. That night, the replacement “family members” were all restless, and every one of them tried to get into the ICU.

Ethan thought it over. He had the medical staff leak Julian’s room number—and even the door access code.

His people waited in that room. Sure enough, they caught someone who had slipped in under cover.

Ethan hadn’t had the earlier intruders roughed up, but he had no intention of letting anyone who tried to reach Julian off the hook this time, no matter who they were to Julian.

The man was subdued. Sensing the displeasure in Ethan’s eyes, and seeing how menacing everyone else in the room looked, he immediately explained why he was there. That was how Ethan learned it had all been Julian testing him.

And on top of what had already happened, there were honey traps and more still to come.

Ethan was at a loss for words, but he also felt it was completely normal. Did he really expect Julian to trust him completely that easily?

Viv was different. A woman could be won over—get her lovesick, add a little physical contact, and she’d fall hard.

He knew that if he wanted the Sinclair Order to trust him, he’d probably have to face even more tests.

He had his men take the intruder out of the hospital, beat him up, and let him go.

The next morning, Julian chewed him out for beating up his man, but his tone wasn’t all that harsh. In effect, Ethan had passed.

Julian also agreed to help Ethan make his move at Easton General. He handed over his connections in the state health system and left the arrangements to Ethan.

Going through the list, Ethan found that several of them were retired officials he’d treated in the past. The most familiar name among them belonged to Joy Tate’s husband’s family.

The Tate family had originally been vassals of the Sinclair family. When Tate women married into these well-connected families, it wasn’t always for love.

Joy should be trustworthy…

Ethan reached that conclusion, then quickly overturned it. When the stakes were high enough, no one could be trusted—especially not the women of Easton.

Ethan knew Easton General inside and out. Besides these outside connections, he also needed to win over the old-timers inside the hospital.

He sat down for two rounds of talks with their representatives. Only after he agreed to fund training for their young talent did they give ground.

Three days later, Easton General held a meeting. Evan Hart was appointed as a specially hired expert and advisor to the medical group, with the authority to step in on how the hospital’s medical work was managed.

On the administrative side, Ethan made a decision that surprised everyone. He actually persuaded the Washington circle to bring back Jordan Keaton—whom he himself had driven out early on—and put her back in charge.

That day, after the meeting at Easton General, Ethan glanced at Zoe’s messages and saw his wife was still at the clinic. Claire really is stubborn.

Too bad. Once a woman has been with a man and had his children, her heart belongs to him. Claire, I don’t want to see you, and I won’t believe another word of your lies.

He warned himself silently: Claire Lowell was a liar, a cheating woman.

After a moment’s thought, he went to his father-in-law’s room.

“Chairman Lowell, have you found a private hospital yet?” he asked as soon as he walked in.

In truth, Richard was already well enough to be discharged, but his daughter wouldn’t allow it. For one thing, she wanted to use him to lure Ethan out. For another, she wanted to wear down Melvin Lowell and his crowd. Claire believed that no matter who was backing Melvin, as long as she refused to give in, she could keep him from winning.

There would be losses along the way, true, but she figured she could afford them and Melvin’s side couldn’t.

She didn’t want to wipe out her own relatives. For now, she could only let time do its work. Once whatever family feeling remained had worn away completely, that would be the moment to bring down the axe.

Richard looked at Ethan and felt an odd sense of danger. There was something deeply unsettling about this man from the Sinclair Order—especially those eyes, which seemed to see right through him.

When his father-in-law said nothing, Ethan went on. “I have the authority to step in on treatment here, but my office is still at the Integrative Medicine Center. Chairman Lowell, I suggest you transfer over there.”

“Don’t trouble yourself. I’m recovering. I’ll be discharged soon. I don’t want the hassle.”

Naturally, Richard refused. The Integrative Medicine Center was the Sinclair Order’s territory. Transferring there would be like a lamb walking into the lion’s den.

“Of course it’s no trouble. It’s just that your wife and family are worried about you, and they specifically consulted our center. If you can recover and go home, nothing could be better.”

Ethan glanced over the chart. “And what about your son-in-law, Dr. Hale? With his skills, if he’d been treating you, you’d have been discharged long ago. And the Lowell family wouldn’t be tearing itself apart like this.”

Richard frowned. That hit a nerve. When his cousin Melvin had started causing trouble, he hadn’t been there to shut it down, and that was what had let the infighting spiral. Both the family and the Group would suffer for it. Earlier, Ethan had offered to treat him, but he’d been too angry about Ethan setting fire to the Lowell Group building to trust him. As for that bastard’s comment about helping take care of his wife—that had been a deliberate provocation, meant to make him choke up the blood clot lodged in his chest.

“This is your family’s business. Outsiders like us have no right to pry. If anything comes up, let our doctors know.”

Ethan said nothing more and left.

Over the next several days, he began reorganizing the doctors and nurses at Easton General, starting by working Order doctors into their ranks. When that was done, he counted the days. His wife had been going to Zoe’s clinic every day for more than two weeks.

That day, after Claire had gone home, Ethan switched back to his real voice and called her. “You’re one of the richest people around. Showing up at Zoe’s clinic every day and getting in the way of her work—it’s not a good look.”

She sounded hurt. “If you know it’s not a good look, then why are you ignoring me completely? Where are you? Come home right now!”

“I’m up in the mountains. I eat simple meals and pray every day. I’m at peace.”

“You—you ran off to a monastery again? You’re not in Easton?” She sounded a little shocked.

“Claire, haven’t you figured it out yet? Sign the papers, give them to the lawyer, and file the divorce at the county clerk’s office yourself. I don’t even need to be there.”

“Don’t you dare. I’m not getting divorced! Honey, come home. I have something to show you. I’ve got the latest DNA results for Natalie and the girls against Julian Sinclair. There’s no relation. Natalie and her sisters are your children!”

On the other end, Ethan thought with contempt, So you’re playing that card after all.

He was unmoved. “Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter to me anymore. Claire, let it go.”

“Honey, don’t be like this. Come home right now!”

“I’m not your husband. I’ve renounced the world. I have a new name now—Brother Anselm. This humble brother is called Anselm.”

Chapter 255: My Wife Offers Another Deal—and Sophie Is the Price

Claire had only told him to come home. There was no sincerity in it, let alone any sign she meant to apologize or make things right. Naturally, Ethan was unmoved.

If anything, the call left him even more hung up on what she’d done. Back at the Integrative Medicine Center, he went and needled Julian again.

Over the next few days, Claire stopped going to Zoe’s clinic. Clearly she believed Ethan had left Easton and taken religious vows. All she could do was search monastery after monastery, or dig through church records across the country for anything on a lay brother named Anselm.

Ethan, meanwhile, saw that the Lowell family’s infighting had weakened that front, so he had his people strike at Dragon Ridge.

His men used smoke bombs and knockout gas to break through the mountain’s checkpoints and pushed all the way into the heart of the Sinclair family’s compound—only to find more than a hundred fighters there. Outnumbered, they eventually pulled back.

Ethan stayed calm during the retreat. At a bend in the mountain road, he even set an ambush that left the Sinclair family’s pursuers in complete disarray.

At the scene, he left behind a few items that pointed to the Lowells and the Marshes. Whether the Sinclair family bought it or not, it would shift the blame elsewhere.

Of the Sinclair family’s wounded, those with minor injuries stayed in the compound to be treated by the Order. The serious cases were all sent to the Integrative Medicine Center and handed over to Ethan.

On the Easton hospital front, Ethan pressed on with his overhaul. After three meetings with Grant Sullivan of Easton Memorial—threats, sweet talk, and pressure in turn—he forced Dean Sullivan to give in.

A week later, he took Easton Women and Children’s Hospital too. The Order’s influence had reached its peak.

That day, before the Order’s decision-makers could come looking for him, his wife actually reached out first and invited him to dinner.

In a quiet private room, after several rounds of drinks, Claire proposed a deal.

She’d had enough. She was going to make her move against the Lowell family.

Ethan knew exactly where this was coming from—after all, Melvin Lowell’s frantic antics had been his doing.

“You think the Lowell family’s problem is really Melvin?” he said. “I don’t. It’s tradition. The older and more deeply rooted a great family is, the more traditional it gets. Passing everything down through sons instead of daughters, pushing aside the lesser branches in favor of the main line—those are just their methods. The way I see it, Ms. Lowell, you built the Lowell family up with your own hands only to hand it to someone else on a silver platter.”

She frowned. “What century is this? How can people still be that old-fashioned?”

“It doesn’t matter what century it is. Great families all care about their legacy. And you buy into the Lowell family yourself—you put its interests first in everything. Otherwise, why didn’t you start a company under your husband’s name, a Hale Group or something? You accept the Lowell family. So now that the Lowell family wants you to hand over control of the money and assets, why won’t you?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Without control, I have nothing. Do you think the people out there would spare me and my daughters?”

“And Dr. Hale?”

“He’s dead. Died in some run-down monastery in the mountains.”

Ethan laughed to himself. So now you’re telling people I’m dead?

Out loud, he said, “Then congratulations on your newfound freedom, Ms. Lowell. You can be with Julian Sinclair now.”

“I’ll say it again. There’s nothing between me and Julian Sinclair.”

“I was just talking. If not Julian Sinclair, there could be a Julian Keaton, a Julian Quincy, a Julian Monroe. Point is, you’ll have no shortage of men lining up to take his place. As long as you team up with someone strong, you can still get through the crisis you’re facing.”

She sipped her wine. “We’ve gotten off track. I want your help dealing with Melvin Lowell. Put him in a hospital bed for six months or a year.”

“Just get him into the hospital, and I can have an intern treat him. Forget six months or a year—keeping him there for the rest of his life wouldn’t be a problem. But you should think about this: if you turn on the Lowell family now, after all the years you’ve spent worrying over it, what were all those years of effort for?”

Claire didn’t answer that. Instead, she asked, “Once it’s done, what do you want?”

“Sophie.”

“You—you really don’t know when to quit.”

“Pick someone else. I can find you an eighteen-year-old college girl, or a grad student—a PhD, a professor, whatever you like.”

“I’m not considering anyone else right now. I want Sophie.”

“Why do you need a child so badly? Wouldn’t money be better?”

“Viv gave me money. The Sinclair Order gave me power. What I’m missing is a woman—a healthy, smart, young, beautiful woman who can give me children. Sophie fits the bill. If she agrees, have her come see me. I’ll set up a physical for her. If it turns out she can’t have children, I’ll want an exchange.”

Once he’d laid out his terms, Ethan parted ways with his wife. On the way back, he sent Melvin Lowell instructions as well. After Melvin, he’d line up others to step in one after another and keep the pressure on his wife.

To his surprise, Sophie really did show up at the Integrative Medicine Center the next day. Her eyes were red and puffy in a way her makeup couldn’t hide. She’d obviously been crying.

“If you’re not willing, go back,” he said. “I don’t like forcing women into things.”

“You hypocrite! I hope the kids I have for you don’t turn out as ugly and two-faced as you!”

Sophie was gritting her teeth. The man in front of her was revolting. What did “willing” even mean? What woman would ever be willing to do something like this?

“Then focus on having a boy,” Ethan said. “Sons usually take after their mothers—looks, brains, all of it.”

He wrote up the test orders and sent her for a full physical. He didn’t have her bumped up the line. He wanted her to stay a while longer; if she didn’t run, it meant she was coming to terms with reality.

“I’m not really that bad, am I?” he said as he worked. “Right now, at the Integrative Medicine Center, Easton General, Easton Memorial, Easton Women and Children’s, Ridgeview Psychiatric, and the rest, I’m the one calling the shots on medical affairs at Easton’s major hospitals.”

Sophie frowned. He was ugly, but he really did know how to get things done. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been forced to come here.

“You’re just borrowing the Sinclair family’s power. You’re nothing but a jackal strutting around in a lion’s shadow.”

“A platform and personal ability really aren’t the same thing. But if a person had no ability, how would they get onto someone else’s platform in the first place, let alone make anything happen once they’re there? Don’t single me out—aren’t you the same? If you hadn’t hitched your wagon to Claire Lowell, where would you be now? You’ve got an $800,000 house, a $100,000 sports car, a $50,000 executive sedan—an E-Class Mercedes, right? Plus two or three hundred thousand in savings. You’ve only been working a few years, and you’ve already made close to $2 million. Look at your old classmates. How are they doing? Are they really that far behind you in ability?”

Sophie fell silent. Clearly he knew her very well.

“We both depend on our platforms,” Ethan continued, “and we’re both bound by them. Without the platform, everything we have gets stripped away. Claire Lowell polished you up and made you shine, and wasn’t that exactly so that one day you’d pay her back? Nobody feeds a hunting dog for years without expecting it to hunt someday. That’s the real reason you’re standing here.”

“You talk too much!”

Sophie couldn’t stand having him twist the knife over and over. She went to get her physical. She felt suffocated. By evening, when she got the final report, she felt dead inside.

She set the report in front of him. “As you wish. When do you want to ruin me? Tonight or tomorrow night?”

Ethan had actually already seen the results on his computer, but he made a show of looking them over anyway. Without making a fuss, he told her to go home first.

Then he called his wife. “Sophie failed the physical. I want an exchange.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I found breast hyperplasia. There’s a high chance it’s already turning cancerous. She can barely take care of herself—how’s she supposed to have my kids? I said I wanted someone healthy, smart, and beautiful who could give me sons. Sophie doesn’t qualify. You’ll have to find me someone else. Otherwise the deal’s off.”

When Sophie heard, she nearly collapsed. How could her perfectly healthy body have anything to do with cancer?

Then she remembered Ethan’s diagnosis from last year. He’d told her she had breast hyperplasia. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, and she’d never had it looked at during her checkups. She hadn’t expected him to be telling the truth.

She was terrified of dying. She had a big house, luxury cars, a fat bank account. She had so many good years ahead of her.

She rushed to Easton Women and Children’s and Easton General to get rechecked, and still wasn’t reassured. The results matched Evan Hart’s. Unable to accept it, she flew out that same night to New York, Boston, and Chicago to find more authoritative doctors.

Meanwhile, Claire showed up at Zoe’s clinic and said flatly, “I want to see Ethan Hale. Contact him right now and have him come meet me.”

Zoe was speechless. “What’s this act for again? Ethan isn’t here—you know that perfectly well. Honestly!”

She left Ethan a message on the forum, then glared at Claire. “If you want to wait for somebody, go ahead and wait right here.”

She didn’t want to deal with Claire. She handed her patients off to the other doctors and went out for coffee with Joy Tate and the others.

Claire waited a whole day. When Ethan still hadn’t replied, she contacted Tori Fairfax.

Tori had temporarily left Easton. She was walking her dog on the grounds of the Chandlers’ grand estate when Claire video-called. She handed her beloved dog to the nanny and the staff.

She went to the gazebo and spoke to Claire on the screen. “I hear the Lowell family’s fighting among themselves. You should strike out on your own and start a Hale Group.”

“Isn’t Ethan dead?” Claire said. “Why would I still tie myself to him?”

Tori laughed. “You’re the one going around saying he’s dead. If he really is, fine by me. He left home to join a monastery. In your case, it’s exactly like the saying: ‘Some people are alive, but they might as well be dead.’”

“What do you want me to do before you’ll get him to come back?”

“I can’t order him around. My grandmother and several other elders all depend on his medical skills. Both our families hold him in the highest regard.”

“I have sick people on my side too. Why won’t he come back and treat them for me?”

“Doctors don’t go door to door begging for work. You want him to come back and treat your family? That’s a bit high-handed of you, isn’t it? In his eyes, you’re Julian Sinclair’s woman. You’re not worthy of his care.”

“I’m not! I’m his woman! My children are his too. Why won’t he believe that?”

“Nobody would believe it. Anyway, we’re all on his side.”

“If his pride won’t let him come back, then I’ll go beg him myself. Tell me which mountain he’s on.”

“I can’t. I promised him I wouldn’t give away where he is without his permission. Claire, you’d better show him you mean it. The way you’re going, you’ll never get him back.”

“Then tell him Sophie has cancer. He can’t just stand by and watch someone die. As long as he comes back and saves her, I’ll give him anything he wants.”

Tori hung up and relayed everything to Ethan. He told her not to waste her energy on his wife and Sophie. He’d handle it.

While she was at it, Tori passed along a piece of intel: the Monroes of Midland would soon be sending people into Easton, and their goal was to deal with Ethan directly. She told him to be ready.

The Monroes of Midland. Jared Monroe.

Ethan’s intelligence files already had material on the Monroes that Pierce had sent him. Now that Tori had brought it up too, the two sources backed each other up. That was confirmation enough.

Bring it on. Send one, and I’ll take care of one. Send two, and I’ll take care of both.

A cold, ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. That his wife could call in muscle from another state—and everything that implied—caught him quite off guard.

In all the years he’d lived with her, he’d never once seen her bring anyone named Monroe home. As far as he could remember, she’d hardly ever gone to Midland on business, either.

Now she’d actually brought in the Monroes. That meant she’d been hiding things from him all along.

Ethan had never visited the Fairfax or Pierce families himself, yet he could still get them to do things for him—because he was a doctor. Save someone’s life, and a bond was formed.

Between a doctor and a patient, saving a life was the fastest way to build a connection.

His wife was a liar.

Now Ethan knew: whoever helped his wife, he would take down, and he wouldn’t miss.

His outrageous demands about Sophie were only meant to make his wife’s life miserable and leave her without allies.

Having sons?

He had no such intention at all.

But before the Monroes arrived, something else he’d been worried about happened first.

That day, Dragon Ridge sent two representatives to his office. One was Harold Sinclair, an elder from the upper ranks of the Sinclair medical line. The other was the Patriarch’s watchdog, Dale.

They had Ethan report on his recent work—especially the full story of how he’d taken control of the Integrative Medicine Center and Easton General, every twist and turn.

Then Harold announced the decision. Ethan was to hand over control of those hospitals. With a single sentence, he snatched away everything Ethan had worked for.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. He handed everything over on the spot.

“Hart, how can you be so easygoing about this?” Harold asked. “You could at least push back a little. Don’t tell me you’re up to something?”

Ethan glanced at Dale first, then turned to Harold. “Uncle Harold, saying that makes it sound like you think of me as an outsider. I know exactly what I’m worth. Without the Sinclair family, I’m nothing. If I thought everything the Sinclair family’s platform gave me came from my own ability alone, I’d be a complete fool.”

“A clever little rat, and a spineless one,” Dale snorted. He looked down on Ethan as a weathervane who turned whichever way the wind blew.

Harold narrowed his eyes. “Then what do you plan to do next?”

“Miss Vivian’s condition has improved. I’ll take her home to recuperate for a while and keep her company. Maybe everyone thinks what I’ve built at the hospitals is my most precious possession. It isn’t. What I treasure most is still Miss Vivian.”

“Approved. Take Viv home and let her rest. And work on your medical skills while you’re at it. Your last exam was only a B-plus.”

“You’re right, Uncle Harold.”

Ethan didn’t say much more. Once he’d finished the handover, he went to Viv’s room. When her treatment was done, they’d check out.

Viv looked to be doing well, but her legs still couldn’t support her. She needed a wheelchair to get around. Her condition was still under Ethan’s control.

Back at the mansion, Ethan opened up the pool and swam laps, completely at ease.

Viv got playful too and wanted to join him in the water. With the water holding her up, she draped herself against his chest.

In the middle of their fooling around, she suddenly said, “Losing the hospitals and everything you worked for—doesn’t it bother you? Evan, I want you to be happy. Let’s try that thing again.”

Chapter 256: Revenge Hits Home, and Claire Is Livid

“Look at you. You can’t even handle this much. If we actually went all the way, you’d hold up even less—and I couldn’t stand to see that either.”

All Ethan had done was work her nerve points, and Viv was already spent. Her stamina was terrible. Recovering from an illness really was like unwinding a tangled ball of yarn—slow and endless.

Of course, it was also true that he didn’t want to sleep with her. He wanted to torment her slowly and make her pay for everything she had done to him in the past.

“Then what about you?” Viv asked.

“Don’t worry about me. Give it a minute and it’ll pass.” Ethan was a man too. He didn’t deliberately hold anything back and let his body react however it would. He simply didn’t let himself finish.

“Once I’m better, I’ll make it up to you.” Viv felt terribly guilty. She was a woman, and she couldn’t even satisfy her lover. Still, Evan hadn’t pushed her or hurt her, and that moved her all over again.

The man was very ugly, but he was very gentle. She was completely smitten.

She curled up in his arms like an obedient kitten.

Ethan stayed at the mansion, splitting his time between keeping Viv company and working in the study.

Two days later, trouble broke out at the Integrative Medicine Center. A patient’s treatment went wrong, and the family beat up the doctor—a doctor the Order had sent over. Ethan’s trusted doctors and men didn’t step in right away. Only after the beating had gone on for a while did they go over and break it up.

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

At ten that night, Claire left the mansion and drove to the airport to pick someone up.

The Monroe family of Midland had chartered a plane—a full thirty people.

The Lowell family convoy drove straight onto the tarmac to collect them, and the trip went smoothly enough at first.

But once they got onto the beltway, something unexpected happened. Someone in a small car ahead of the convoy tossed bags of paint and ink out through the sunroof, and they burst across the windshield of the lead car.

Blinded, the driver kept the car steady for a few moments before he had no choice but to slow down, and the rest of the convoy had to slow down with him.

But the big rig behind them didn’t slow down. It sped up and plowed straight into them.

Claire’s and Jared Monroe’s cars were in the middle of the convoy, and they were top-of-the-line vehicles. That was the only reason the two of them walked away unhurt, but the crash still left them pale with shock.

“A cheap, dirty trick like this—you think that’s going to scare me? What a joke.”

Jared saw that some of his men were hurt, though most were fine. He was furious, b