Chapter 5 - The Legal Storm
The sickening crunch of impact echoed down the apartment hallway. Marcus stumbled backward, tripping over his own boots, and hit the linoleum floor with a heavy thud. He clutched his jaw, staring up at Ethan in stunned disbelief, a thin line of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
“You broke my jaw!” Marcus screamed, scrambling backward. “I’m calling the cops! You’re going to jail!”
Ethan didn't blink. He stood over him, his voice dangerously low. “Call them. Tell the police that Ethan Cole assaulted you while defending a mother from harassment on private property. Let’s see how fast the prosecutors throw your harassment claim in the trash.”
Marcus scrambled to his feet, holding his face, backing away down the stairs. “This isn't over! You haven't seen the last of me! I have rights!”
He turned and bolted down the stairwell, the sound of his heavy footsteps fading into the distance.
Claire stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Ethan. Her heart was racing a million miles an hour.
“Ethan, what did you just do?” she breathed, pulling him inside and locking the door behind him. “You can’t go around punching people! You’re a public figure! If that gets out, the media will—!”
“I don't care about the media,” Ethan interrupted, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a paper towel to wipe a smudge of dust off his hand. “I care about some deadbeat showing up at your door threatening legal action after abandoning you and your child for a year.”
“He can file for custody,” Claire said, her voice trembling as the panic finally hit her. “In the state of Indiana, if he establishes paternity, he has rights. I don't have the money for a high-powered family law attorney to fight him.”
Ethan turned around, stopping her frantic pacing by placing his hands firmly on her shoulders.
“Look at me, Claire,” Ethan commanded gently. “You work for me now. You make seventy-five thousand dollars a year. And I happen to retain the finest legal counsel in the Midwest on permanent retainer for corporate litigation. If Marcus wants a legal battle, he is going to find out very quickly what happens when he picks a fight with someone who can buy his entire life ten times over.”
Claire looked up into his dark eyes, the warmth of his hands steadying the storm inside her. “You don't have to do this, Ethan. You’ve already done too much.”
“I’m not doing it as charity,” Ethan whispered, his gaze lingering on her face a fraction longer than necessary. “I’m doing it because I want to.”
Two days later, Marcus’s empty threats materialized into official paperwork.
A courier dropped off a notice from the Marion County Circuit Court: Marcus had filed a formal petition for joint custody, visitation rights, and establishment of paternity, claiming that Claire was an “unstable and financially precarious mother” who was unfit to raise a child alone.
Claire stared at the summons, her hands shaking.
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When Ethan received a copy from Claire’s email, he didn't blink. He immediately looped in Richard Vance, the senior managing partner of Vance & Sterling Legal Group, the most formidable family and corporate law firm in Indianapolis.
By Wednesday afternoon, the preliminary hearing was scheduled.
