Chapter 4: The Fight for What’s Right
Mara knew she had to tell Ethan what had happened, but she was too scared to face him. She spent the next two days hiding out in a motel room, too ashamed to look Lila in the eye, until Ethan showed up at her door, his face tight with worry. “I know what happened with Lisa,” he said, sitting down next to her on the motel bed. “Tom told me. I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you.” Mara broke down crying, telling him everything that had happened, and Ethan pulled her into a hug, promising that he would make Lisa pay for what she’d done.
Over the next month, Ethan fought back against the scandal with everything he had. He fired the board members who’d tried to push him out of SunVolt, filed a lawsuit against Brooke for defamation and blackmail, and hired a private investigator to find the security footage from the hospital parking lot that would prove Lisa had destroyed the jewelry box. The private investigator found the footage within a week, and Ethan used it to get a restraining order against Lisa, banning her from the mansion and from contacting Lila or Mara.
Clara’s health continued to decline over the next few months, but she stayed strong for Lila, teaching her how to braid her hair, how to bake sugar cookies, and how to write her name in purple marker. One night, while Ethan and Mara were sitting by her bed, Lila walked in holding her purple gift box, the one that had started the entire scandal. “I made you a new one,” she said, handing it to Clara, who opened it to find a drawing of her and Ethan holding hands, with Lila in between them. Clara cried, holding the drawing to her chest, and told Lila that she was the bravest, kindest little girl she’d ever known.
Two weeks later, Clara passed away in her sleep, surrounded by Ethan, Mara, and Lila. The funeral was small, with only close family and friends in attendance, and Ethan delivered a eulogy that brought everyone to tears, talking about how Clara had been his best friend, his love, and the reason he’d started SunVolt. After the funeral, Ethan adopted Lila, legally making her his daughter, and he renamed the pediatric cancer research wing at SunVolt the Clara Hale Pediatric Cancer Research Center, in honor of his late wife.
May you like
Brooke’s lawsuit against Ethan was thrown out of court, and she was ordered to pay SunVolt $5 million in damages for defamation and blackmail. She filed for bankruptcy a few months later, and she moved to California to start over, but she never spoke to Ethan or Lila again. Lisa’s reputation was ruined by the security footage, and she was forced to resign from her position as a board member at a local hospital, after the hospital found out about her role in the scandal.
Mara decided to stay on at the Hale mansion, working as Lila’s full-time nanny and helping Ethan manage the Clara Hale Foundation, which raised millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research every year. Lila started preschool in the fall, and she made her first real friend, a little girl named Emma who loved purple glitter just as much as she did. Ethan started dating Mara a few months after Clara’s death, and he proposed to her on Lila’s fourth birthday, while they were sitting on the lawn of the Hale estate, watching the sunset over Lake Michigan.
