After Rebirth, I Refused to Be Their Scapegoat Chapter 07
“Throw them out. If they take half a step closer, call the cops,” Ethan ordered coldly.
Several security guards moved in swiftly, forcibly dragging Vivian’s family off the driveway.
Five minutes later, in the living room of the villa.
Ethan handed me a hot coffee and loosened his tie with a sharp tug. “Those guards are getting fired tomorrow. I watched them corner you on the steps through the security monitors, and my heart nearly stopped.”
cradled the paper cup, looking up at him. “What if Greg had lost his mind and gotten physical? There were so many of them… weren’t you worried about getting dragged into it? I’m already so grateful for your help, I didn’t want you to-
He stopped pacing and frowned, staring intensely at me. “Hiding in the back while the woman I care about gets attacked? That’s not my style.”
I froze, instinctively avoiding his gaze.
Ethan suddenly leaned in. “What are you hiding from?
Embarrassed, I held my breath and forced myself to meet his eyes. “You talking like this… I’m just not used to it.”
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’ve liked you since college, a blind man could see it! If I had known you were this clueless, I would have said something sooner then Nathan, that bastard, wouldn’t have had a chance to sneak in. Seeing him treat you like garbage… I’ve wanted to destroy him for a long time.”
“Ethan, I’m really not in the headspace for a new relationship right now,” I said, my voice dry.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “No one’s pushing you. If you feel pressured, you can walk away anytime. If you aren’t repulsed by the idea, we’ll start as friends and let nature take its course. Your feelings are what matter most.”
I shook
my head. “That’s not fair. I can’t just comfortably accept all your help when I don’t even know if I can ever give you anything back.”
Ethan flicked me lightly on the forehead. “Stop keeping score. I like you, and I’m happy to have your back. Remember, someone who genuinely cares about you doesn’t keep a tally. Anyone who does the bare minimum and demands an immediate return on investment never gave a damn about you to begin with.”
His words shattered my self–doubt.
Vivian’s family had tossed me scraps while sucking my inheritance dry and working me to the bone like vampires. Nathan had picked up the check, but only to feed his savior complex and buy my obedience. None of that was love.
Ethan quickly changed the subject, shifting the focus to how we were going to get my inheritance back.
“These cold cases drag on forever,” I said, wanting to stop relying on him so heavily. “I was thinking of finding a civil attorney specializing in property disputes myself…‘
“Stop right there, Audrey.” Ethan interrupted with a laugh. “I’m not that punk kid dozing off in law
lectures anymore. Leave this to me. You’re in good hands.”
I assumed he meant to represent me himself. Instead, a few days later, in a top–floor conference room. downtown, the man sitting across from me flipping through my files was none other than Howard Sterling–a legend in estate litigation with a flawless, zero–loss record nationwide.
This top–tier shark, whose consultation fees reached five figures just to book a meeting, was now standing respectfully beside Ethan, deferentially briefing him. on the litigation strategy.
Watching Ethan by the floor–to–ceiling windows, it suddenly hit me: to command that level of reverence and subservience from Sterling, Ethan was clearly far more than just a regular lawyer.
With Sterling’s team leading the charge, the trial was a one–sided massacre.
Faced with ironclad evidence, the attorney Vivian had hired was left speechless. The judge ruled in my favor
on the spot, ordering them to vacate the property within thirty days and pay back two million dollars in damages, plus interest.
Stepping out of the courthouse, a gaunt, haggard man darted out from the bottom of the steps.
It was Nathan. He was currently out on bail, awaiting trial for soliciting theft. The once–polished investment banking elite had lost a shocking amount of weight. He looked awful, drowning in a slightly wrinkled custom suit, his eyes sunken and completely bloodshot.
Ethan let out a mocking scoff. “Nathan, looks like life’s been treating you rough. Why don’t you tell us about it and give me a good laugh?”
“Shut the hell up!” Nathan glared at him darkly, though he clearly lacked the energy for a real fight. He turned to me, pleading, “Audrey, can we talk in private?”
I took a half–step back, avoiding his reach. “I’m busy.”
“Do you have to be so cold? After all the years I took care of you, you can’t even spare five minutes?” He sounded angry, yet acting like the victim.
More of his emotional blackmail. I used to bear it silently, terrified of seeming ungrateful. Now I knew the truth: walking away from toxicity was the only way to live.
I felt completely detached. Without a single word, I turned to walk away.
Nathan chased after me, unraveling. “You won’t even give me one word of sympathy? When my father found out about this mess, he went insane! He stripped me of my shares and rewrote his will–I’m left with barely ten percent of what I had! I only ever told you those secrets. I bared my soul to you, and you stab me in the back like this?”
I stopped, unable to hold back a sharp, clear laugh.
His face completely fell. “I’ve been stripped of my inheritance, and you’re laughing?”
“What a shame,” I said, making no effort to hide my satisfaction. “Since you’ve lost everything, you better start getting comfortable with the idea of rotting in a cell for the next ten years.”
In all the years I’d known Nathan, this was the first time I’d ever seen him look so utterly pathetic.
But I felt exactly zero sympathy. Watching him crumble only brought me a profound sense of satisfaction.
“You’re going to destroy me just because I made one mistake?” Nathan’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice trembling with desperation. “Audrey, think about everything I’ve done for you. I fixed your problems. I paid for your living expenses. Doesn’t any of that mean anything to you?”
I looked at him coldly. “Drop the hypocritical act, Nathan. All those years, whenever Vivian and her family tormented me, your first instinct was always to force me to apologize to my abusers. You used your little handouts to feed your need for control,
demanding that I play the perfectly grateful damsel in distress. Did you ever stop to think about how sick that is?”
His expression froze, and he scrambled to defend himself. “That’s because Chloe, that bitch, was always scheming behind your back-”
“Excuses,” I cut him off. “The truth is, you never respected me, and you certainly never trusted me.
“If you ever harass me again, I’ll make sure you pay an even heavier price.”
With that, I turned around and walked toward the parking lot with Ethan.
Walking away from that hypocrite, I felt lighter than I had in years. Ethan was clearly in absolute high spirits, too.
Using the excuse that he “needed a woman’s touch to pick out a gift for an important female client,”
drove us straight to the most exclusive luxury shopping center in the city.
“he