Chapter 5 - ETHAN'S COUNTERATTACK
Ethan did not surrender.
That would have been unlike him.
The next morning, he filed suit.
Not against Evelyn.
Against Carter Holdings.
He claimed:
wrongful removal,
breach of trust obligations,
retaliatory governance,
and improper interference in his marriage.
His lawyer argued Evelyn had weaponized corporate control to punish adultery.
Smart.
Because adultery did not automatically justify stripping business rights.
Then he attacked the audit.
Some expenses were legitimate.
The apartment?
Madison did social consulting informally.
The car?
Used for client events.
Travel?
Some investors attended.
The $684,300 figure included disputed classifications, not proven theft.
All true enough to complicate the narrative.
Then Ethan attacked Claire’s appointment.
Conflict of interest.
Estranged spouse.
No neutral governance.
Potential divorce leverage.
Again:
smart.
Claire told Evelyn:
“He’s right about one thing.”
“What?”
“I shouldn’t run his division just because you want to punish him.”
Evelyn smiled slightly.
“Good.”
Claire frowned.
“You wanted me to say that?”
“I wanted to know if you understood the difference.”
Between revenge and governance.
Claire did.
So she proposed an independent interim CEO.
Evelyn accepted.
Ethan lost one argument before he could make it.
Then Claire did something else.
She declined any personal distribution from Ethan’s revoked privileges.
No windfall.
No revenge transfer.
That strengthened her position.
Ethan noticed.
He texted:
You think this makes you look noble?
Claire replied:
May you like
No. It makes the accounting cleaner.
He stopped texting.
