“Anna, are you really staying here?” he asked, turning to me with disappointment.
“This is our home,” I replied, folding my arms. I could feel Ethan’s presence behind me, calm and steady.
Then my father turned to him, looking him up and down. “So, you’re the man who married my daughter,” he said, voice dripping with disdain. “Do you know who she is? Do you have any idea what she’s worth?”
Ethan met his gaze, unfazed. “Yes, sir, I do,” he replied, his voice steady and quiet. “I know she’s more than her last name, or the money attached to it.”
My father scoffed. “Oh, I see. You’ve got all the right lines. It’s clear you’re not in this for love, but for what you can gain.”
“Actually, sir,” Ethan said, standing firm, “I don’t care about your money. Or your status. I care about Anna.”
My father’s face turned red with fury. “You expect me to believe that?” he hissed. “You’re just a janitor—a nobody.”
Ethan didn’t flinch. He looked my father right in the eye. “I may be a janitor,” he replied, “but I know honesty. And respect. I know that Anna deserves more than being treated like a pawn.”
My father’s expression changed, a mix of anger and disbelief. “And what gives you the right to lecture me about respect?”
Ethan took a deep breath. “My last name doesn’t mean anything to you, does it? What if I told you my father’s name was Andrew?” he asked, his voice calm but edged with something sharper.
My father frowned, a flicker of confusion crossing his face. “Andrew?”
“You knew him once,” Ethan continued. “He was a business partner of yours until you forced him out. Took everything he had. He went from owning a company to scrubbing floors. And that’s how I grew up.”
I felt the shock ripple through the room as my father’s face paled. “That can’t be… that was years ago,” he stammered, searching Ethan’s face. “You’re his son?”
Ethan nodded. “He never recovered. But he raised me to be better than bitterness. And here I am.”
