Ethan's Gambit and Walter's Revelation
The rain lashed against the glass façade of Ashford Enterprises like a living thing, each strike a furious reminder of the storm both inside and outside the building.
The tower loomed over the city—once a symbol of Ashford ambition, now a vessel adrift in turbulent waters.
Inside the boardroom, Ethan sat alone at the head of the long polished table, the seat once reserved for Matthew… and long before him, for Walter.
Now it belonged to him.
The room felt colder than usual, stripped of its former vibrancy. The walls, once alive with lively debate and confident optimism, now echoed with unspoken dread. Ethan ran a hand through his hair, exhaustion dragging at his limbs as he stared at the list before him.
Names.
Departments.
Dreams.
All waiting to be cut, reorganised, or dismantled.
Ashford Enterprises was bleeding.
Slowly, painfully, relentlessly.
The Hardest Morning of His Life
The closed‑door meeting had lasted less than an hour, but its weight lingered like smoke clinging to fabric.
Ethan had delivered the news with a steady voice, though his heart thrashed like a wild thing beneath the surface.
"Several departments will be suspended effective immediately… staff reductions are unavoidable… severance packages will be honoured… we will help those affected transition…"
The uproar was swift and brutal.
"How could you do this?"
"We've given our lives to this company!"
"You're destroying everything Walter built!"
"You're not an Ashford—you don't get to make this call!"
The words cut deeper than he expected.
Ethan didn't defend himself.
Couldn't.
He absorbed every complaint, every glare, every accusation.
Then he went back to work.
He walked the halls that afternoon, office to office, offering support to those being let go. Some met him with tears, some with fury, some with quiet resignation. Every handshake tightened the knot in his chest.
Every person he let go felt like a personal failure.
But he kept going…
because someone had to.
The Tower Under Siege
By midday, whispers coiled through the office like smoke.
"He's killing the company."
"They say he's using the crisis to grab power."
"I heard he's planning to sell everything."
"Matthew would never have done this."
The weight of their disappointment crushed him.
But Ethan didn't waver.
He couldn't.
At night, when the building emptied and silence stretched across the floors, Ethan sat in his office surrounded by documents, searching—pleading—for a way to save the sinking ship.
But every solution crumbled before the next crisis.
A blocked investment.
A lost contract.
A threatening letter from a competitor.
A whisper of a hostile takeover.
Hope felt like a matchstick in a hurricane.
Walter Returns
No one noticed the taxi that rolled up to the entrance.
No one saw the older man who stepped out slowly, leaning on a cane, wrapped in a coat that hung too loose on his recovering frame.
Walter Ashford inhaled deeply, eyes narrowing at the building he had once ruled.
Everything felt different.
Darker.
More desperate.
He entered the lobby quietly. The marble floor reflected his reflection—older, weathered, but unbroken.
Anger simmered beneath his composure.
Not at Ethan.
Not even at the failing business.
But at the secrets he had begun to uncover.
At the betrayal buried beneath the company he had devoted his life to.
At the danger creeping closer to the Ashford name.
He pressed the elevator button, jaw tightening.
He was done recovering.
It was time to fight.
A Meeting Decades in the Making
Ethan was hunched over a mountain of reports when Walter entered the boardroom.
The soft click of the closing door jolted him out of his thoughts.
"Walter?" Ethan breathed. "I… I didn't expect—"
"No time for reunions," Walter grunted, lowering himself into a chair. "We have work to do."
Ethan blinked, relief flooding through him. "Work?"
Walter reached into his coat and pulled out a battered folder—edges yellowed, corners curled, thick with age and forgotten potential.
"I've kept this locked away for years," Walter said quietly. "Because I knew it would only matter when the company was on its last breath."
Ethan opened the folder.
Inside lay a treasure trove:
Old blueprints.
Shelved projects.
Technological prototypes ahead of their time.
Contracts.
Patents—pages stamped with potential and long-neglected opportunity.
Ethan's breath caught.
"What is this?" he whispered.
"Your salvation," Walter murmured. "And the company's."
He explained how internal politics had once buried the project. How rivals within the Ashford board had sabotaged it decades ago. How newer technologies and modern markets had finally caught up—making the project not only viable, but revolutionary.
Ashford Enterprises had been sitting on a gold mine.
A gold mine Ethan could resurrect.
For the first time in weeks, something flickered inside Ethan's chest.
Hope.
The House on Fire
Their breakthrough was cut short by a sharp knock on the door.
A department head entered, pale and tense.
"Ethan… you need to see this.
Some of the dismissed employees are outside. Protesting. And rumours are spreading about a takeover bid. A big one."
Ethan closed his eyes for a beat.
Of course the world wouldn't wait.
Of course the fire would spread faster just as they found water.
He forced himself to stand.
"Thank you. I'll handle it."
Walter watched him with pride.
"You're stronger than you think," the old man said quietly. "And you're not alone anymore. We do this together."
Ethan swallowed hard.
Together.
He hadn't realized how desperately he needed that word.
A New War Begins
The next days blurred into relentless motion.
Strategy meetings at dawn.
Confidential calls with legal teams.
Guarded discussions with potential investors.
Rebuilding trust with remaining employees.
All while protesters gathered outside the building.
Ethan stood firm through all of it.
He wasn't leading alone anymore.
Walter was by his side.
The Ashford dynasty, once fractured, now had a spark of unity.
But their enemies were circling.
The company was vulnerable.
And whispers of sabotage still echoed behind closed doors.
This was no longer a rescue mission.
This was war.
A Flicker of Hope
As the rain intensified outside, pounding against the glass, Ethan spread the recovered documents across the table.
Diagrams.
Prototypes.
Patents.
Dreams reborn.
For the first time in weeks, the darkness inside Ashford Enterprises seemed to thin.
Ethan exhaled, steady and sure.
The battle ahead would be brutal.
The enemies he had made would not rest.
The ghosts of the Ashford name were stirring.
But now—finally—he could see a path.
Not easy.
Not certain.
But real.
And for the first time…
Victory felt within reach.