---- Chapter 14 Ethan sat in his darkened study, a glass of untouched scotch beside him. The silence of the penthouse was a living thing, pressing in on him, amplifying the emptiness Jessica' s chaotic presence had once masked. He had systematically dismantled Jessica's life, exposed her deceit, ensured her public disgrace. The news of her family' s business collapsing, her father facing fraud charges, had reached him. There was no satisfaction in it. Only a deeper, colder void. Revenge was hollow. It didn't bring Amelia back. It didn't absolve his guilt. Jessica, in a last, desperate attempt, had managed to get past his security, appearing at his office, tearful and begging. He had looked at her, at the beautiful face that had once captivated him, and felt nothing but revulsion. He had feigned a moment of tenderness, a flicker of the old affection, just to see the hope flare in her eyes before he extinguished it. ---- "| have a gift for you, Jessica," he' d murmured, his voice soft, almost a caress. She had looked up, a pathetic eagerness on her face. "Oh, Ethan, | knew you still" 'It' s the full weight of what you deserve," he' d finished, his eyes like chips of ice. The memory was bitter. He was becoming a monster, just like her. His company, Caldwell Industries, was suffering. His neglect, his erratic behavior, his growing reliance on alcohol - it was all taking its toll. Deals were falling through. Stock prices were plummeting. His board of directors was whispering. He didn't care. The empire his grandmother had built, the legacy he was supposed to uphold - it all seemed meaningless without Amelia. She had been the quiet, unseen foundation, the moral compass he had consistently ignored. Now, in her absence, everything was crumbling. Jessica' s family business, Thorne Luxury Goods, was the first to fall completely. ---- Partners withdrew, credit lines dried up, bankruptcy was declared. Ethan had watched it happen, a distant, detached observer of the destruction he had set in motion. His assistant, Markham, had reported the details with grim satisfaction. "They're ruined, sir. Completely." Ethan had merely nodded, demanding more. He wanted every vestige of Jessica's influence, her power, eradicated. He was relentless, ruthless, driven by a cold, consuming rage that had little to do with justice and everything to do with his own self-loathing. Jessica, frantic, had tried to reach him. Dozens of calls, texts, emails. He had instructed his staff to block her, to ignore her. She had even shown up at the penthouse, screaming his name in the lobby, until security removed her. The last he heard, she was selling her designer clothes, her jewelry, anything of value, just to survive. She had finally realized his feigned affection had been a trap, a prelude to her utter destruction. The thought brought him a fleeting, ugly flicker of satisfaction, quickly extinguished by the overwhelming weight of his ---- despair. She had confronted him one last time, ambushing him as he left a board meeting. She was a shadow of her former self, her expensive clothes rumpled, her eyes wild with desperation and hatred. She had thrown herself at his feet, literally, clinging to his legs, begging for mercy, for a reprieve. "Ethan, please," she sobbed, her voice raw. "Don't do this. I'll do anything. Anything!" He had looked down at her, his face a mask of cold contempt. He felt nothing. No pity. No anger. Just a vast, weary emptiness. "The only thing | regret, Jessica," he had said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, "is ever believing you. The only person | truly wronged, the only one whose forgiveness | crave, is Amelia." He had disentangled himself from her grasp, his words a final, brutal blow. "You took her from me. You helped me destroy the best part of my life. For that, there is no forgiveness." He had walked away, leaving her sobbing on the marble floor, her face contorted with a rage that mirrored his own. ---- Her hatred was a palpable thing, but it couldn't touch him anymore. Nothing could. The Thorne family patriarch was arrested. Jessica was implicated, facing her own set of charges. She was destitute, disgraced, her name a synonym for treachery and ruin. Ethan had won. He had achieved his revenge. And he had never felt more alone, more lost. The victory was ashes in his mouth. Amelia was still gone. And he was still a broken man.