Chapter 5 - The Erasure
Adrian stood up slowly, his face twisted in a mixture of deep, unadulterated disgust and heartbreak. He looked at the screen, then turned to face the woman he had promised to marry.
"Adrian, sweetheart, please! It was a mistake!" Celeste wept, reaching out to grab his arm, her tears ruining her perfect eyeliner. "He was being difficult! He wouldn't let me through the gate! I didn't know it was your father, I swear!"
"If it had been anyone else's father, Celeste, would it have been acceptable?" Adrian asked, his voice dead, dropping his hand until her fingers slipped away. He took the heavy diamond engagement ring from his pocket—the one she had left on his nightstand to be resized—and dropped it onto the wet navy coat. "The engagement is over. Get out of my father's house."
"Adrian!" Arthur Marrow roared, stepping forward to defend his daughter, though his own hands were shaking violently. "You can't do this over a petty dispute with a servant's uniform! We have contracts! We have a signed merger agreement between Marrow Logistics and Vale Global!"
"Ah, yes. The contracts," I smiled, pulling the greasy envelope from my pocket and tossing it directly into Arthur’s chest.
The manifest and the hundreds of dollars scattered across the table.
"This is the envelope you handed me at the gate, Arthur," I stated, looking at the lead federal auditor who was sitting at the back of the room. "Assuming I was an underpaid servant who could be bought for three thousand dollars in cash. You wanted our kitchen manager to replace Vale-certified, high-safety food vendors with your own sub-standard, debt-ridden Marrow supply lines."
The board members gasped, several of them already compiling digital notes on their tablets.
May you like
"Evelyn," I called out.
"Yes, Chairman," Evelyn stood up, pulling a legally sealed decree from her briefcase. "As of 7:05 PM, Vale Global has initiated a total asset recall on all outstanding loans issued to Marrow Logistics through our banking subsidiaries. We have also filed a formal complaint with the State Attorney General for corporate bribery and attempted commercial fraud."
