"I'm okay, Ethan, but I don't think our company is."
Ethan understood immediately what she meant.
He swept a cold, authoritative glance over the terrified faces of the staff.
Emma dared not raise her head.
Her hands trembled as they clasped together.
Jason, standing beside her, looked pale, his previous arrogance completely drained away.
"What on earth happened here?" Ethan's low, commanding voice cut through the silence, eliciting a collective gasp. "Why was my sister, the CEO of Bennett Aviation, treated like a criminal on her own plane?"
Emma's throat tightened, and her feet felt rooted to the spot.
Yet her stubborn streak still flickered.
She managed a stammered response, her voice stripped of confidence.
"Mr. Bennett, we... we were just doing our duty to protect..."
"Protect whom?" Ethan's interruption was sharp as a knife. "Protect genuine passengers, or protect your own blind prejudice and discrimination?"
Ethan's pointed question echoed through the lounge, silencing Emma completely.
Her face drained of color, frozen in fear.
Jason fared no better.
He stepped back, lips trembling as he fumbled for an excuse.
"We... We didn't recognize her. We thought..."
"Thought?" Ethan pressed on, his tone harsher still. "You thought a Black woman couldn't possibly own Bennett Aviation, or that your ignorance and prejudice were strong enough to override plain fact?"
Nobody dared meet his gaze.
Heads bowed, eyes fixed on the rain-slicked floor, remorse and fear swirling in their hearts.
Lucas Parker hovered at the back, his shame at having done nothing now palpable.
Ethan motioned to his security detail to start securing the area and preserving all surveillance footage.
Ryan Hughes and his team sprang into action, sealing off the lounge and ensuring every piece of evidence remained intact.
"I want a full briefing on every detail of this incident," Ethan declared, his voice firm and unwavering. "You will all explain exactly why you treated Olivia this way."
Emma's eyes filled with terror as she looked to Ethan.
She realized there was no escaping the consequences.
Jason, standing beside her, could only watch in utter despair as the gravity of their mistake sank in.
Captain Richard Davis approached Ethan with a respectful yet ashamed bow.
"Mr. Bennett, I verified the manifest. This was entirely our error, a grave mistake."