On His IPO Day, He Chose My Sister Chapter 10
Maya’s POV
Later on, I caught news updates about Ethan now and then.
Everything blew up spectacularly.
After the Quinn family pulled all their investment, the company’s stock tanked nonstop for weeks. To make it worse, their brand-new product launch crashed and burned entirely.
Every customer tore apart Chloe’s menu line-all the signature meal kits tasted unbalanced, supply chains fell apart left and right, and investors quickly caught wind that all the original game-changing recipes belonged to
me, not Ethan,
My lawyer forwarded an official letter to the company, I didn’t want to drag this out into an ugly public battle, but I wasn’t about to hand over everything I’d built for nothing,
The Quinn family crashed and burned too. My dad only dumped money into Ethan’s startup to prop up his own failing company’s debt issues, nothing more, Regulators stepped in to audit their finances, and their whole empire crumbled faster than anyone predicted.
Chloe showed up at Ethan’s office one day, practically
begging to see him, but the front desk turned her away
flat. They said she wasn’t allowed upstairs without a
scheduled appointment.
I watched the clip of her standing helpless in the lobby
and felt absolutely nothing.
I’d already sent my lawyer to sort out all the assets my mom left me years ago anyway. I’d let those things slide for too long, and I wasn’t backing down anymore.
A month later, that upscale gala out in the Sonoran Desert blew my name wide open. Bookings requesting me as head chef stretched all the way through the end of next year.
Julian sat in the office tallying deposits, grinning so hard his eyes nearly crinkled shut. “We hit the jackpot, Maya. We actually hit the jackpot.”
I rolled my eyes at him. My knife never paused mid-chop. “Quit counting cash. Did you lock in tomorrow’s menu?”
His smile vanished instantly. “All set, Chef.”
Our next booked event was in New York, I was heading
back to the city,
Only this time, I wasn’t coming home for Ethan,
Once the night’s service wrapped, a server popped into
the temporary kitchen to find me, “There’s a guest out
front asking to meet you, Chef Maya.”
I wiped my hands clean and stepped out into the dining room.
Ethan sat alone by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He’d wasted away significantly, stubble dusting his jaw, the unshakable confidence long gone from his eyes.
He glanced up when he spotted me, a faint, sad smile tugging his lips.
“I finally get to taste your cooking again. Never thought
it’d be under these circumstances.”
I nodded politely.
“I’m glad it’s to your liking. If you don’t have anything else
I need to head back to the kitchen.”
to say,
“Wait, Maya.”
He stopped me before I could walk away, sliding a stack of legal papers across the table toward me.
“I stepped down from my CEO position and sold off a big
chunk of my personal shares. Half of everything here is
yours,”
I skimmed the paperwork quickly. The number printed
there was astronomical-enough money to wipe away a lifetime’s worth of guilt for most people.
“It’s not hush money,” Ethan said softly, “That twenty
dollars you begged for outside your dad’s door all those years ago kept me from starving. This is me finally paying you back the way you deserve.”
I didn’t refuse it. I took the papers and said calmly, “Very
well.”
A flicker of raw desperation crossed Ethan’s eyes,
I closed the folder shut.
“This settles everything between us. You don’t owe me anything, and I don’t owe you either.”
Ethan shot straight to his feet, his eyes red and desperate.
“Maya, is there really no way we can fix this?”
I didn’t look back as I walked off. “There isn’t.”
Back in the kitchen, Seven was lying by the door waiting
for me. I knelt down and scratched his floppy ears.
“Mom just got paid big, I’ll grab you extra treats later.”
Julian leaned against the prep counter grinning.
“What about me? Do I get a bonus too?”
I rolled my eyes and picked my chef’s knife back up, already prepping tomorrow’s ingredients. “Finish going over tomorrow’s purchase order first, Chef”
Hot oil slid into the pan, and warm scents rose up.
I listened to the familiar roar of the burners and felt lighter than ever,
From now on, I’d be more than okay,
I’d taken the money,
My passion was mine once again.
And most of all, for the first time, I belonged only to
myself.