Chapter 5 - ETHAN THORNE CAME WITHOUT HIS BROTHER
Ethan arrived at my office three days later.
Civilian clothes.
No appointment.
My administrative sergeant called.
“Ma'am, there's a Thorne here.”
“Which?”
“The polite one.”
I laughed.
“Send him in.”
Ethan sat.
He was forty-two.
Marcus was thirty-five.
Same family resemblance.
Different temperature.
“I owe you an apology.”
“You didn't throw anything.”
“I watched.”
That surprised me.
“You did eventually speak.”
“Too late.”
Fair.
He placed a folder on my desk.
“What is this?”
“Something you should know.”
I did not open it.
“If this concerns Thorne Aerospace, you need to take it through contracting counsel.”
“It doesn't concern your official evaluation.”
“Then?”
“It concerns Marcus.”
I opened the folder.
Credit statements.
Personal loans.
Gambling transactions.
My stomach tightened.
Marcus owed nearly $310,000.
Not wedding debt.
Sports betting.
Private card games.
High-interest loans.
“Does Chloe know?”
“No.”
“Robert?”
“Not all of it.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because Marcus is planning to marry your sister in six weeks.”
I looked at him.
“He'll tell her eventually.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he tried to use the wedding gifts as collateral for a private loan.”
I stared.
“That doesn't even make sense.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus was drowning.
Chloe was drowning.
Both thought marriage would give them access to money the other didn't actually possess.
A financial tragedy dressed in white flowers.
---
Then Ethan said something worse.
“Marcus asked our father's attorney about Chloe's family assets.”
My expression changed.
“What assets?”
“Your parents' house.”
I stared.
“Dad owns it.”
“I know.”
“He asked whether Chloe might inherit.”
“Yes.”
“He knows I'm alive.”
Ethan gave me a grim smile.
“Apparently he assumed your military career meant you'd ‘already been taken care of.’”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because entitlement had no imagination limit.
Marcus expected Chloe's inheritance from our still-living parents.
Chloe expected Marcus's wealth.
Neither understood the other's reality.
---
I asked Ethan:
“Why haven't you told your father?”
“I have.”
“And?”
“He paid Marcus's debt twice before.”
There it was.
Different family.
Same rescue pattern.
Robert defended Marcus because Marcus was “difficult.”
Ethan was competent, so Ethan handled consequences.
I almost smiled.
“You're the Zariah.”
He looked confused.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Then I explained.
He laughed once.
“Unfortunately accurate.”
---
We decided one thing.
Neither of us would secretly fix anything.
Ethan would tell Robert he was done covering Marcus's debts.
I would not pay Chloe's wedding bills.
The rest belonged to the people making the choices.
May you like
It felt cruel.
It was probably the first actually loving decision either family had made in years.
