Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO NEVER KNEW HIS NAME
Ethan Shaw was twenty-two.
He had dark hair, tired blue eyes, and the quiet posture of someone accustomed to being overlooked.
Julian found him sitting in a hospital waiting room with a bandage wrapped around his right hand.
He had injured himself repairing machinery at the dock.
Nothing life-threatening.
But enough to require treatment.
Julian approached carefully.
"Ethan?"
The young man looked up.
"Yeah?"
"My name is Julian Sterling."
Ethan's expression changed.
"Sterling?"
Julian nodded.
"May I sit?"
Ethan hesitated.
Then shrugged.
"Sure."
Julian didn't immediately tell him everything.
He began with the dock.
The trust.
The documents.
Then he explained who Richard Sterling had been.
Ethan listened without speaking.
Finally, he laughed.
"You're telling me the man who owned half the shipping industry was my grandfather?"
Julian nodded.
Ethan shook his head.
"That's ridiculous."
"I understand why you'd think that."
"My dad was a mechanic."
"His name was Daniel Sterling."
Ethan froze.
Julian continued.
"He used Shaw professionally."
Ethan stared.
"How do you know that?"
Julian showed him a photograph.
Richard Sterling standing beside a younger man near a tugboat.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Ethan's face drained.
"That's my dad."
Julian nodded.
"And that's my father."
Ethan looked away.
For several minutes, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Julian swallowed.
"I don't know every answer yet."
Ethan looked at him.
"Did he know about me?"
"Yes."
"And he never came?"
Julian's throat tightened.
"I don't know why."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
He stood.
"I have to go."
Julian didn't stop him.
Instead, he said:
"You don't owe me anything."
Ethan paused.
Julian continued.
"But if you want answers, I'll help you find them."
Ethan looked back.
For the first time, his expression softened.
"Why?"
May you like
Julian answered quietly.
"Because you should have had them years ago."
