Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN ACCOUNT
Ethan stepped between Claire and the stranger.
"Go."
The older man smiled.
"You should have told her yourself."
Then he walked away.
Claire stared at Ethan.
"What account?"
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
"It's complicated."
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"You humiliated me over a restaurant bill, disappeared into a hallway, and now someone says I don't know about an account."
Ethan looked away.
Claire's voice became quieter.
"What did you do?"
He finally met her eyes.
"I made a mistake."
"What kind of mistake?"
"A financial one."
Claire waited.
He said nothing.
She pulled out her phone.
"I'm calling the police."
Ethan immediately grabbed her wrist.
"Don't."
Claire pulled away.
"Don't touch me."
He released her.
His face showed genuine fear.
"I didn't steal anything."
"Then why are you afraid?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Because the money wasn't mine."
Claire felt a chill move through her.
"Whose was it?"
He looked toward the restaurant entrance.
"My father's."
Claire knew the name.
Richard Cole.
A billionaire investor whose company had appeared in financial magazines for years.
"What does your father have to do with this?"
Ethan lowered his voice.
"Everything."
He explained that six months earlier, millions had disappeared from a private investment account.
His father believed Ethan had taken the money.
Ethan insisted he had not.
But the evidence pointed toward him.
Claire stared at him.
"Then why make me pay the bill?"
Ethan's expression changed.
"Because I needed to know something."
"What?"
"Whether you were really here for me."
Claire stared at him in disbelief.
May you like
Then she understood.
The restaurant bill had been a test.
