Chapter 28 - Five Years Later
Five years passed in a flash of triumph, growth, and prosperity.
Ethan Carter was now twenty-two years old, having graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a degree in Organizational Ethics and Aviation Management while serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Horizon International.
Under Ethan’s leadership, Horizon had grown into the highest-rated, safest, and most profitable transportation network in world history, operating across seventy-five international hubs.
Yet despite running a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise, Ethan remained completely unchanged in his heart.
Every single week, Ethan spent at least fifteen hours working directly on the terminal concourses—wearing a standard navy polo and his old sneakers, pushing wheelchairs, loading luggage, and speaking directly with passengers and frontline staff.
On a rainy Thursday evening—the exact five-year anniversary of the night everything began—Ethan walked through Concourse B of Terminal Three.
The rain streaked down the giant glass windows, turning runway lights into blurred ribbons of white, red, and blue across the wet concrete. Inside the terminal, thousands of travelers moved beneath the warm chandeliers, their suitcases rolling across the mirror-like floors.
Ethan paused near the bronze monument at Gate 14, watching the busy crowd with a warm, reflective smile.
Suddenly, across the concourse, Ethan heard a familiar, sickening sound.
A dull, heavy thud against the polished tiles near Entrance 4.
Ethan’s head turned instantly.
An elderly woman in a worn rain jacket had slipped on the wet floor, her leather handbag spilling open as she fell against the glass stanchion, clutching her hip in pain.
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Around her, several travelers hesitated, pulling their luggage away and stepping around her.
Before Ethan could even take a step, a young seventeen-year-old airport assistant—wearing a navy polo, a fluorescent yellow safety vest, and scuffed gray sneakers—came sprinting full speed across the terminal, pushing a steel wheelchair.
