Chapter 6
Simultaneously, he asked a trusted technician to restore deleted calls and texts from his backup work phone, which Ethan sometimes handled.
"That night, before you returned to Rheinsville, you had a video call in the study.
"I wanted to tell you Mom's results, but as I reached the door, I heard you yelling.
"You scolded Ethan for rejecting my call again, then said he should block all my calls in the future until you were free.
"You told him to talk to Grace Shaw. You wanted her to design a script so I'd 'support your career' if I got emotional.
"You were so harsh that day, Alex. You called me unreasonable and said Mom's 'minor illness' wasn't worth interrupting your meeting.
"Ethan laughed and said he already treated me as a 'project risk.' He praised your foresight in isolating family emotions.
"You didn't deny it. Instead, you told him he did a good job and promised him a bonus.
"You even discussed that if Emma kept making trouble, Grace should accompany you to events. You'd post photos to reassure investors that your marriage was stable and successful.
"You said, 'the wife at home' is just for show. Don't divorce; it ruins the image. Just drag it out until the IPO.
"I heard that phrase, 'the wife at home,' very clearly.
"Before the video ended, you asked Grace if she had blocked any 'troublesome calls' for you lately.
"She smiled and said someone claiming to be my mother asked if you were in Rheinsville. She had Ethan reject it.
"You said, 'The old lady is overthinking. I'm too busy to listen to her. Tell her not to disturb my work.'
"Grace even suggested that if my mother called again, they should just say you were away with poor signal.
"You agreed, saying her health wasn't that bad anyway, and you'd deal with it after this busy period.
"Alex, do you know that blocked call was the last time Mom ever tried to ask you for help?
"After that day, her condition worsened rapidly until she could barely even sit up in bed.
"I watched her struggle to breathe. She was clutching your business card, repeating that she mustn't trouble you.
"She didn't know her 'trouble' was just a call log filtered out by your assistant.
"I later searched Ethan's backup phone and saw those rejected calls from home, along with his logs to Grace.
"When you came back, you argued about a dinner. I tried to tell you about Mom, but you ignored me.
"The people who tried to notify you were my dying mother, who was blocked, and me, your 'project risk.'
"Do you really think there's anything left in this marriage worth saving?
"I'm not surprised that you found out about the schemes between Ethan and Grace.
"Because during this entire year, they were behind almost every time you were absent or unreachable.
"But they didn't do those things for my mother's sake, or for the sake of this home.
"They were just following your lead, blocking out everything you didn't want to face.
"You say Ethan betrayed you, but he was just executing your own coldness toward this family to the extreme.
"The person who truly blocked my mother at the hospital door wasn't Ethan or Grace. It was you.
"The day Mom collapsed, I called until my hands shook, but your phone was off. Ethan had it.
"He stood outside the club, swiping away every single one of my desperate calls as 'missed.'
"Then he opened the private room door and smiled, saying, 'Mr. Sterling, don't worry, everything at home is fine.'
"You were probably inside toasting clients, boasting about your stable marriage and supportive wife.
"At that moment, I was messaging you from the ER, telling you that Mom was in the resuscitation room.
"Ethan glanced at it, closed the phone, and deleted the message.
"So when you ask me if I know anything, of course I do.
"I know far more than you imagine. So much that I don't even have the strength to argue anymore."
Alex stared at the call logs recovered by the technicians, scanning the evidence of betrayal line by line.
Time, number, and status were all there. Brief notes occasionally jumped out from the remarks column.
Fixed Line: [3 missed calls. SMS reminder sent to assistant for handling.]
Emma's Cell: [5 calls rejected. Remark: Emotional.]
External Number: [Town Hospital Switchboard. Remark: Family looking for Alex. Callback handled by Ethan.]
Behind that line about Ethan's callback, the technician had added a specific annotation.
Note: [No callback record found on this device. Speculated that Ethan used a private phone.]
Alex's fingers tightened, the veins on the back of his hand bulging with suppressed rage.
He took a breath and opened the chat logs between Ethan and Grace recovered from the cloud backup.
The interface was familiar. As he scrolled up, the messages hit his eyes like heavy stones.
Grace: [Alex is being shielded by you again. Emma sent a long message about her mother's treatment. I forwarded it.]
Ethan: [Seen. No need to reply. Don't engage her directly. If she makes a scene, you'll regret it.]
Grace: [What if something really happens? The old lady is his mother-in-law, after all.]
Ethan: [If it's serious, someone will eventually notify him. Don't bother him with minor aches while he's this busy.]
Grace: [Fine, I'll listen to you.]
He scrolled down to another segment.
Ethan: [Emma called the office three times last night. I blocked her as planned, saying you were with foreign partners.]
Grace: [You really are a man of steel.]
Ethan: [This is for Alex's benefit. If she got through and caused a scene, it would ruin our hard work.]
Grace: [Well, you had better ask Alex for a large bonus.]
Ethan: [Lol, he understands.]
Next were the messages from around the time of the charity auction.
Grace: [Is it a risk letting Emma handle the charity event? Her mental state hasn't been great lately.]
Ethan: [That is exactly why she should go. It keeps her from overthinking. It's also good PR for you.]
Grace: [You're just making things easier for yourself.]
Ethan: [I'm making things easier for Alex. We need this model couple image until the IPO risk control passes.]
Grace: [You really have it all calculated.]
Ethan: [In this industry, if you can't calculate, you're eliminated early.]
Alex stared at the words "model couple". A red mist clouded his vision as his chest tightened.
They discussed his marriage using terms like image, risk control, and arrangement.
He thought those were just corporate labels. He never realized his closest associates had dismantled his marriage into risks.
He continued to scroll down.