Chapter 4 - THE BILLIONAIRE'S REGRET
"Hannah," Ethan choked out, staring up at her from the floor.
"I am so incredibly sorry," he wept, stripped of all his billionaire pride, all his ruthlessness, and all his armor.
Hannah looked down at the man who had broken her heart so thoroughly all those years ago.
She saw the raw agony in his eyes, but she also felt the heavy weight of the last seven years pressing on her bones.
She remembered the nights she cried herself to sleep on an empty stomach just so Noah could have milk.
She felt a single tear slip down her cheek, but she did not move toward him to offer comfort.
"Come on, Noah," Hannah said softly, her voice remarkably steady despite the storm inside her.
"We are going home now."
Noah looked at Ethan kneeling on the floor, then up at his mother, sensing the heavy sadness in the air.
He let go of Richard's hand, walked over to Hannah, and grabbed her fingers tightly.
"Goodbye, Grandpa," Noah called out softly over his shoulder as Hannah led him toward the exit.
Ethan tried to stand up to follow them, but Richard placed a firm, heavy hand on his son's shoulder.
"Let her go, Ethan," Richard commanded quietly.
"You have done enough damage for one lifetime, and you cannot fix this with a dramatic apology."
That night, the massive Blackwood estate felt exactly like a cold, empty tomb.
Ethan sat alone in his dark office, staring at the faded ultrasound photo under the light of a single desk lamp.
He had already fired his entire security team and canceled the wedding with one brutal phone call to Victoria’s father.
His lawyers were currently drafting the paperwork to aggressively dismantle Victoria’s family trust funds and businesses.
But destroying her life did absolutely nothing to fix the gaping hole in his own chest.
He picked up his phone and dialed his father’s number, needing to hear a voice that wasn't his own screaming conscience.
"She won't answer my calls, Dad," Ethan said, his voice cracking in the dark silence of the mansion.
"I sent her flowers, I sent emails, I even drove to her apartment building but she won't buzz me in."
"She moved out three hours ago," Richard told him bluntly.
Ethan gripped the phone tighter, a fresh wave of panic rising in his throat.
"Where did she go?" Ethan demanded, standing up from his leather chair.
"I helped her relocate to a safer, private neighborhood where the press cannot find her," Richard said calmly.
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"Give me the address right now," Ethan pleaded, pacing across the Persian rug.
"No," his father replied firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.
