---- Chapter 23 Ethan, looking gaunt but resolute, managed to slip into the Carter Family Foundation Thanksgiving dinner. He'd called in a significant favor to get past security. He found a discreet corner, observing. The room was filled with New York's elite. His parents were holding court, radiating wealth and influence. And then he saw them. Liam and Ava They were standing together, talking to a group of people, Ava's hand resting lightly on Liam's arm. She was laughing, a genuine, relaxed sound. Liam looked at her with an expression of such profound love and adoration that it was a physical blow to Ethan. Family members and friends approached them, offering congratulations, praising their happiness. "You two are just perfect together!" "Ava, you're glowing!" "Liam, you lucky man!" The public affirmation of their union, their happiness, was a fresh torment. Ethan felt a despair so deep it threatened to swallow him whole. She had truly moved on. She was happy. With his brother. He couldn't bear it. He stepped out of the shadows, confronting them. "Ava!" His voice was louder than he intended, drawing stares. ---- Ava turned, her smile fading when she saw him. Liam tensed, moving slightly in front of her. "Ethan," Ava said, her voice cool. "What are you doing here?" "| need to talk to you," he said, his eyes pleading. "Ava, why? Why are you doing this? You never liked these stuffy charity events. You always said they were pretentious. You preferred quiet nights in, remember? With me." He was grasping at straws, at old memories, trying to find some crack in her composure. Ava looked at him, a hint of pity in her eyes. "Ethan, | compromised on many things when | was with you. Because | thought | loved you. Now, I'm with a man who shares my interests, who enjoys the things | enjoy. Or, who makes even stuffy events enjoyable simply by being by my side." She smiled up at Liam, a soft, intimate smile. Liam put his arm around her. "Ethan," he said, his voice dangerously low. "You don't understand love. You never did. You tried to change Ava, to fit her into your world. | love her for who she is." Richard and Eleanor Carter descended upon them, their faces furious. "Ethan! How dare you show your face here!" Richard hissed, grabbing his arm. "You will leave. Now." "Or you will be removed," Eleanor added, her voice like steel. "And this time, there will be no 'sabbatical.' You will be cut off. Completely." Other family members gathered, offering well-intentioned but ultimately useless advice. "Ethan, let it go.""Find someonenew." ---- "She's happy, can't you see that?" Their words were a meaningless buzz in his ears. Then, a sudden, chilling thought struck him. He looked at Liam, at his calm, triumphant expression "This... this was all you, wasn't it?" Ethan accused, his voice shaking with a new, dawning rage. "Chloe's reappearance, the amnesia, Ava turning to you... You orchestrated this! All of it! To get her! To get Carter Holdings!" Liam just raised an eyebrow, a small, unreadable smile playing on his lips. He didn't confirm or deny. Ethan snapped. "Fine!" he shouted, his voice ringing through the suddenly silent ballroom. "You want a fight, brother? You'll get one! I'm not going anywhere! I'm not giving up Ava! And I'm not giving up my birthright!" He turned to his parents. "| renounce my place in this family, here and now! I'll build my own empire! And | will win her back! Fair and square!" Ava stared at him, shocked by the extremity of his declaration, the depth of his delusion. His parents looked horrified. Ethan then did something truly shocking. He walked to the center of the ballroom, where a small, symbolic ancestral shrine was displayed for the occasion. He knelt before it, a gesture of profound defiance. "| swear," he said, his voice resonating with a mad conviction, "| will not rest until Ava is mine again." ---- He was completely unhinged. But his obsession, his determination, was terrifyingly real.