Chapter 4 - The Price of a Tear
Evelyn fell backward, her knees buckling as she hit the carpeted floor. "No... no, no. You're a nobody. You're a penniless orphan. Connor found you working in a diner!"
"I owned the diner, Evelyn," I said, offering her a cold, calm smile. "I owned the entire commercial block it sat on. I just wanted to see what it felt like to work an honest day's labor—something neither you nor your son have ever done in your entire, miserable lives."
Connor scrambled to his feet, his hands reaching out toward me across the long glass table, his face a grotesque mask of horror and realization. "Brooke... sweetheart... please. If you’re the owner, why didn't you tell me? We were married! We’re having a baby together! Everything I did... I did it for our future! The divorce... it was just my mother's idea! She pressured me!"
"Connor!" Evelyn shrieked, looking at her son in absolute betrayal. "How dare you!"
"It’s true!" Connor yelled back, completely turning on his own mother in a desperate bid to save his skin. "She hated you from day one, Brooke! She was the one who told me to treat you like a burden! She was the one who poured the water on your head last night! I didn't want to laugh, I swear! I was just trying to keep the peace!"
I watched them tear each other apart with a feeling of deep, cold disgust. This was the 'rich, powerful family' that had spent four years making me feel like an insect. The moment the money was threatened, they became nothing but rabid dogs biting each other for scraps.
"Save your breath, Connor," I said, standing up from the chair. The motion caused my silk robe to shift, revealing the slight curve of my pregnancy belly. "You didn't care about our future when you transferred five million dollars of my company's research capital into Tiffany’s offshore account in the Caymans."
Tiffany gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she took a step back toward the door.
"You thought you were stealing from a faceless corporation," I continued, walking around the table until I stood directly over Connor. "But you were stealing from your own child. You left me with fifty thousand dollars and an eviction notice while you planned a luxury vacation to Europe with your mistress using my money."
"Brooke, please..." Connor wept, big, heavy tears finally streaming down his face. He reached out, trying to grab the hem of my robe, completely stripped of his manhood. "I’ll sign anything. I’ll cancel the divorce. We can be a family again. Think of our daughter! She needs a father!"
"My daughter needs a role model, Connor. Not a parasite," I said, my voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Last night, you sat at that dinner table and watched your mother pour freezing, filthy water over the mother of your child. You laughed while your girlfriend mocked my shoes. You wanted tears, Connor. You wanted humiliation."
I leaned down close to his ear.
"Now, it's my turn to watch you drown."
I looked up at Lawrence. "Are the federal authorities downstairs?"
"They just arrived, Director," Lawrence smiled.
The boardroom doors opened once more, and four federal agents in dark jackets with SEC and FBI emblazoned across the back stepped into the room. They carried silver handcuffs, their expressions completely unyielding.
"Connor Harrington, Evelyn Harrington," the lead agent announced. "You are under arrest for corporate embezzlement, wire fraud, and grand larceny. You have the right to remain silent..."
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As the steel clicked around Connor’s wrists, he let out a wild, unhinged scream, begging me to look at him, begging for mercy. Evelyn began to hyperventilate, collapsing into the arms of the female agent who dragged her out of the room. Tiffany was led away in tears, realized her temporary wealth had just secured her a permanent record.
I stood by the window, watching them get pushed into the back of the dark police cruisers far below. The air in the boardroom felt clean. The weight that had pressed down on my chest for four years was completely gone.
