The Cost of Betraying a Cole

The Patek Philippe in my family’s vault, the one with an eight-million-dollar valuation, has the Cole family crest engraved on the caseback. It’s our heirloom.

So, I was somewhat surprised to see it on Ryan Asher’s Instagram story. He was dangling it for the camera, the light catching the platinum bezel. The caption was pure, unadulterated pride:

A gift from the boss. Said it suited my style. Any experts out there know the value?

My fingers were trembling when I texted Isabelle.

You have thirty minutes to put that watch back where it belongs. If you don’t, I will burn your family’s entire legacy to the ground.

She replied almost instantly, her tone a cloying mix of panic and flirtation. “Ethan, don’t be so harsh. Ryan was just curious, he wanted to wear it for a day…”

Thirty minutes later, I made a call.

The Monroe Corporation board meeting descended into chaos.

Ryan Asher, wearing my family’s heirloom, was trying to schmooze his way toward the head of the table when security grabbed him by the arms. They dragged him out, but not before the watch slipped from his wrist, skittering across the mahogany conference table with a sickening crack.

Some things, once broken, are just broken.

But the person who breaks them? They have to be buried in the wreckage.

1

“Ethan! Are you out of your mind? You had security throw Ryan out of a board meeting?” Isabelle’s voice, sharp and furious, preceded her into my office.

I tapped a finger on my desk, not bothering to look up. “I gave you thirty minutes.”

“He’s my executive assistant! He just closed a three-hundred-million-dollar contract with our European partners!”

She stormed up to my desk, her stilettos sinking into the plush carpet, and slammed her ludicrously expensive Hermès bag on the floor.

“Those old vultures on the board are already looking for any excuse to undermine me because of my age, and you just handed them a goddamn knife, didn’t you? You just had to stick your nose into the Monroe Corporation’s business? You think we can’t survive without the Coles?”

I finally lifted my gaze to meet hers, a humorless laugh escaping my lips.

“You know exactly what that watch represents, Isabelle.”

“It has the Cole family crest on the back. No one outside the direct line of succession is ever supposed to touch it, let alone wear it. And you just gave it to your boy toy?”

Isabelle’s face went rigid. With a sweep of her arm, she sent a stack of files cascading to the floor.

“I have dozens of watches sitting in my dresser at home!”

“Ryan had to close that deal today! It’s a nine-figure account! I let him borrow it to make an impression, what’s the big deal?”

“He’s just a kid who fought his way out of nothing in Appalachia, is it so wrong to help him?”

“Make an impression?” I loosened my tie, the sound of my own cold laugh echoing in the silent office. “Anyone watching would think he was the kept man you’re hiding on the side.”

“Plenty of people fight their way up from nothing. They do it one step at a time, with their own sweat.”

“You’re so generous, Isabelle. Why don’t you just liquidate your Monroe shares and buy a Patek for every poor kid in the mountains?”

“You’re an asshole, Ethan!” The barb hit its mark. She was trembling with rage, snatching our wedding photo from the corner of my desk and hurling it at me.

The silver frame shattered at my feet.

I bent down and picked up the photograph, my voice as cold and sharp as the broken glass.

“On our sixth anniversary, I booked the entire private island in the Maldives where we honeymooned. I waited for you. You spent that night at a hotel celebrating Ryan’s birthday. He even posted a picture of you feeding him a slice of cake.”

Isabelle’s chin jutted out. “Can you stop being such a pathetic, paranoid husband for one second?”

“It was Ryan’s birthday, and the client was trying to get him drunk. He has a severe alcohol allergy; he could have ended up in the hospital if I wasn't there to run interference.”

“We have an anniversary every year, Ethan. What if Ryan had died?”

I swiped open my phone’s photo gallery. There was Ryan, posing in front of a new Porsche.

“For his birthday, you throw him a party and buy him a sports car.”

“For my birthday, you have your assistant send a bouquet of fake flowers to my office.”

“Isabelle, who is your husband? Me, or Ryan Asher?”

“As if you need any of those things,” she scoffed, her eyes dripping with disdain.

“Ethan, honestly. Picking on a kid just starting his career? Don’t you find that embarrassing?”

“No,” I said. A smile touched my lips, but it didn't reach my eyes. “But you might want to give your star assistant a heads-up, Isabelle.”

“If he ever sets foot in a Monroe Corporation board meeting again, your family can expect the Cole Corporation to pull every last dollar of its funding.”

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "268260" to read the entire book.