---
When the last guest was gone, Ethan pulled Richard aside, still riding his adrenaline.
"Dad, what was that?"
"If I hadn't smoothed it over, Caroline would've caught on. What if she changed her mind on the spot?"
Richard rubbed his face. "Vivienne is not your mother. Caroline is going to be around your actual mother every single holiday for the rest of her life."
"You and Caroline are spending one night at the beach house, and then you're coming straight back. The minute she walks into our Park Avenue house she meets Josephine. How were you planning to explain that?"
"You should have told Caroline the truth a long time ago. This is a mess."
He sighed.
Ethan bristled. "Dad, what are you saying? You're blaming me for this?"
"I wouldn't have had to pull any of this if you'd just married Vivienne in the first place. This is on you."
Richard's face went black. "Your mother raised you her entire life. You don't have an ounce of gratitude, and now you're blaming me?"
"Presentable or not, she is still your mother."
Ethan said it before he realized: "She's not even my real mom."
Richard froze.
Ethan, realizing he'd said it out loud, decided to stop pretending. He pushed forward.
"You and Vivienne weren't half as subtle as you thought. I've known for a long time."
"Two days ago I walked out of my room and heard the two of you talking about it. Clearly."
He gestured, frustrated.
"If you and Vivienne love each other this much, and I'm your biological son, why are you still with Josephine? I can't take her anywhere. If you really can't leave her, then keep her as the housekeeper. Why did you have to keep her as Mrs. Sterling?"
"Because of that, my actual mom was forced to act like the mistress, and I had to jump through hoops to get Caroline to call her Mom even once."
Ethan wasn't bluffing. He knew where and when he'd overheard the conversation. He even had the phrase Vivienne had used.
He knew everything.
Something buckled in Richard's chest. He felt like he might go down right there.
Ethan grabbed his father's arm, alarmed. "Dad? Are you okay? What did I say that was so wrong? You stopped wanting her years ago, didn't you?"
Every time Ethan said Josephine like she was just some woman, Richard's control frayed a little more.
Finally, he slapped his son across the face.
"How dare you say her name like that?" he shouted. "She is your mother."