Chapter 4 - The Public War
By 6:00 AM Friday morning, the video of our grand entrance at the Hyatt gala had gone viral across every major social media platform in the world.
The hashtag #SullivanTwins was trending at number one globally. TikTok was flooded with side-by-side edits comparing Ethan’s melancholic television interview with the moment ten-year-old Noah stepped into the ballroom holding a legal briefcase.
Public sympathy for Ethan vanished overnight. The internet turned on him with terrifying velocity.
"What a hypocrite! Pretending to be lonely while his kids were living in West Loop!"
"Evelyn Sullivan is a real-life villain!"
"That little boy Noah spoke better than the corporate lawyers!"
The market responded immediately. By 9:30 AM, when the New York Stock Exchange opened, Sullivan Group stock plummeted by 14% in early trading, wiping out nearly $1.2 billion in market capitalization in less than an hour.
I sat in Lucas’s high-rise law office in downtown Chicago, watching the cable news coverage on a large flat-screen television while sipping a black coffee. Noah was seated at a secondary desk, working on a spreadsheet, while Sophie was happily eating a strawberry glazed donut.
Lucas walked into the office, carrying a thick binder.
"Ethan’s lead counsel called me three times this morning," Lucas said, pulling out a chair. "They're panicking, Claire. The board of directors is threatening to initiate a vote of no confidence against Ethan if he doesn't settle this quietly within forty-eight hours."
"What are they offering?" I asked.
"Fifty million dollars cash," Lucas replied. "Full private trust funds for Noah and Sophie, a luxury penthouse in Gold Coast, and a complete non-disclosure agreement prohibiting you from speaking to the media ever again."
I laughed—a sharp, bitter sound. "Fifty million to buy my silence and keep his corporate throne safe."
"What do you want to do?" Lucas asked.
Before I could answer, my personal phone rang. It was an unlisted number.
I answered, placing it on speaker.
"Claire... please," Ethan’s voice came through the speaker. He sounded completely shattered, exhausted, and desperate. "Don't take the settlement. Don't let my lawyers treat you like a business transaction again."
I motioned for Lucas to stay quiet. "What are you talking about, Ethan?"
"I kicked my mother out of my house last night," Ethan revealed, his voice cracking. "I fired her legal team. I don't care about the stock price, Claire. I don't care about the board of directors. I just... I want to see my children. I want to look at them without a room full of lawyers watching us."
"You had ten years to look at them, Ethan," I said coldly.
"I didn't know!" he cried out. "I know that's not an excuse... I know I was a fool, a coward who let my mother control my life. But please... give me one hour, Claire. Just one hour with you and the kids. If you still want me out of your lives forever after that, I'll sign over half my empire and walk away."
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I looked over at the twins. Noah was watching me, his expression unreadable behind his glasses. Sophie held up her sketchbook, showing me a drawing of a family standing outside a big house, with a dark shadow erased in the corner.
"One hour, Ethan," I said firmly into the phone. "At our apartment in West Loop. No security, no lawyers, no mothers. If you bring a single person with you, the deal is off."
