Chapter 26 - The Heiress He Tried to EraseBy evening, Ava’s hospital room had become a protected location.
Two officers stood outside.
Her company’s legal counsel arrived with representatives from the family trust.
No one entered without authorization.
Ethan had spent years mocking Ava’s security procedures.
Now those procedures formed a wall around her.
Rachel placed the recovered evidence on the table.
Mark had preserved the sabotage module.
The helicopter’s internal route history remained intact.
The cockpit headset had recorded Ethan demanding that Mark leave the area.
The Coast Guard had documented Ava’s position on the cliff.
The hospital had recorded her injuries.
The emergency server held the rest.
Ethan’s story was collapsing before he could finish telling it.
Ava looked at the financial documents.
“How much did he move?”
“Enough to establish control if you died before the fraud was detected.”
“And the board?”
“He scheduled an emergency meeting for tomorrow morning.”
Ava stared at Rachel.
“He expected to attend as my widower.”
“Yes.”
The cruelty of it struck with almost absurd precision.
While Ava’s body was supposed to be sinking into the Pacific, Ethan planned to walk into a glass boardroom wearing black and accept condolences.
He would speak about grief.
Responsibility.
Continuity.
He would ask the board to protect Ava’s legacy by giving him temporary control.
Temporary would become permanent.
Rachel slid another document forward.
A draft press statement.
It described Ava’s death as a tragic accident during a romantic coastal flight.
Ethan had written the ending before taking her into the sky.
Ava read the final line.
Her husband asks for privacy during this devastating time.
She placed the paper down.
“No.”
Rachel waited.
Ava’s voice became cold.
“He wanted privacy.”
She looked toward the officers beyond the door.
May you like
“He is going to get the opposite.”
👉 Ava had survived Ethan’s private murder plan—and now she intended to expose it before the board meeting meant to crown him.
