Chapter 159 Crumble

Chapter 159 Crumble
Margaret had gone to Ethan's house earlier, but he had refused to come downstairs. She had waited, pacing in the quiet rooms, heart pounding, calling his name softly, trying to coax him down. When that failed, she had gone up to his room, standing just outside the door, hoping for some acknowledgment, But there was nothing. Silence. His refusal was clear.
"You don't have to do this alone, Ethan," she had whispered, almost pleading, "I'll fix this. I promise you, I will fix it."
But he didn't respond. She had been the last person he wanted to speak to, and it stung her more than she could admit. She had tried patience, tried reason, but he would not budge. So she left, her mind racing, her resolve hardening. If she could not reach him there, she would go elsewhere. She would make them listen.
Margaret had arrived at Sir Levi's house with a single purpose. She didn't wait for introductions. The moment she stepped through the doors, she opened fire, words sharp and cutting like a weapon.
"Why?!" she demanded, eyes blazing as she faced Sir Levi. "Why would you conspire with the rest of the board members to remove Ethan?"
Sir Levi opened his mouth, ready to speak, but her fury was a storm. He could not get a word in. Every attempt to calm her was swallowed by the torrent of her anger.
"You don't understand!" she shouted, hands trembling but firm. "I gave up my right as his mother! Do you hear me? I gave it up so Max could create the perfect heir, so he could raise him the way he wanted, so that Ethan would be everything he dreamed of!"
Her chest heaved as she recounted the past, the years of silence and sacrifice imposed upon her. "Max made me sign those papers," she continued, voice breaking, "forcing me to stay away. I lost all those years! I suffered! I stayed in the shadows, in silence... just so he could be shaped, just so he could become the man you now think you can destroy!"
Tears streamed down her face, but her hands clenched into fists. "I didn't endure all of that, all of these years, just so some random men could waltz in and remove him! Do you hear me, Levi? I will not let this happen!"
Sir Levi tried again to respond, his voice calm but firm, but Margaret's eyes bored into him, every word a dagger. She was a mother scorned, a woman who had sacrificed everything, and no calm reasoning could reach the depth of her fury.
Ethan stood frozen outside the study, rigid as a statue, his mind unable to process the words he was hearing. What did she mean by that? All these years... all this time he had believed she had purposely neglected him, pushed him away. Anger, confusion, and a deep ache coiled together in his chest. Hugo stood beside him, equally stunned, watching Margaret pace and shout, unable to mask his disbelief.
Sir Levi's voice, calm but firm, broke through the chaos. "Madam K, please... calm down. The board's decision was unanimous. I had no choice but to...."
Margaret spun to him, cutting him off like a whip. "No!" Her voice rang sharp and unyielding. "You think because it's a board decision, because it's 'unanimous,' you can just cast him aside? Do you forget whose son he is? This is a family business, Levi! Ethan isn't just anyone, he was born for this! Nobody else can take this company to where it needs to go. Nobody! Only Ethan!"
Her hands shook, but her tone was fierce, filled with the fire of years of repression and sacrifice. Tears slipped freely down her cheeks, but she didn't stop. "Do you think you can make all those years I lost meaningless? That I endured silence, that I let him be trained by Max alone, that I gave up my place as his mother, just so some men could come in and remove him from what he was born to do?"
Sir Levi raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Madam K, please, "
"If you don't fix this, I will!" she cried, voice breaking, the raw emotion finally spilling over. "I will do whatever it takes to protect him! You cannot undo the past, but you can prevent this future. If you won't, then I will!"
Sir Levi exhaled sharply, his composure faltering under the storm of her words. "Madam K... calm down."
Something in his tone, something so ordinary, snapped Ethan out of his paralysis. The weight in his chest exploded into motion. Without thinking, without hesitation, he burst into the study, his presence immediately commanding the room.
Ethan's eyes darted between Sir Levi and his mother, confusion, disbelief, and a deep, gnawing hurt twisting in his chest. "Madam K?" he asked, his voice low, almost a whisper, yet charged with the weight of recognition. The name struck him like a lightning bolt. He knew it perfectly well.
Growing up, he had received gifts from her, letters, small tokens, and gestures that had always felt personal, deliberate. Expensive toy cars for his collection, carefully chosen to match his tastes; handwritten notes praising his accomplishments or advising him on matters he hadn't shared with anyone. She had known him, knew his likes, his quirks, the small obsessions that made him who he was. She had even started his car collection, nurturing a passion he thought had been entirely his own.
Whenever he asked who she was, he was told she was a distant relative. That had always felt incomplete, a convenient lie that left a lingering curiosity in his heart. And now, standing here, seeing her face tear-streaked and raw with emotion, everything clicked.
Ethan's gaze shifted back to Sir Levi, silent, demanding answers. "Sir... Levi?" he asked, voice trembling slightly, though barely audibly. "Was she... who I think she is?"
Tears streamed freely down Margaret's cheeks. She couldn't speak, couldn't form the words. Her chest heaved, her sobs barely contained. The years of longing, of being separated from her son, weighed heavily on her, finally spilling over.
Ethan's voice hardened as he looked at her again, pain and disbelief mingling. "You... you signed a contract that kept you away from me?" His words cut through the air like a blade.
Sir Levi stepped forward, trying to explain, calm, rational. "Ethan... it was for your own good. Max Sinclair, your grandfather, believed that mothers, if too indulgent, could negatively influence their sons. He wanted you shaped, trained, and prepared without interference. That was his reasoning for the contract."
Ethan stared at him, eyes narrowing. He couldn't accept it. The words sounded hollow, absurd, like excuses. His mind reeled with all the moments of loneliness, all the nights he had felt abandoned, and all the misunderstandings that had built a wall between him and the woman who had loved him all along. He looked at Sir Levi as if the man were speaking nonsense, ridiculous and irrelevant.
Then his gaze softened, shifting back to Margaret. Not with anger, not with the habitual hate he had carried for so long, but with pity. A deep, aching pity for the years they had both lost to Max Sinclair's rigid, controlling will. He saw her as she truly was, a mother who had sacrificed everything, hidden herself, and endured unbearable pain for the sake of him, her son.
Ethan's chest tightened, a storm of emotion rising, a mix of grief, anger, and disbelief that left him momentarily paralyzed. And then, without another word, without further confrontation, he turned sharply and stormed out of the building. His footsteps were heavy, purposeful, carrying the weight of years of misbelief and a newfound understanding that nothing would ever feel the same again.
Margaret stood frozen, sobbing openly, reaching toward the space he had just vacated, knowing that the wall of silence and misunderstanding between them had just begun to crumble, but the first steps toward healing would have to wait. Sir Levi stood silently, watching, knowing that the moment had forever changed the trajectory of their lives.
Outside, Ethan's mind raced, heart pounding, emotions too raw to contain, each step carrying the mixture of pain and realization that would haunt him for the days to come.