Chapter 2 - The Red-Handed Server
The silence that followed the chime of my phone was deafening, though Daniel and his family were too arrogant to notice. Vanessa was still looking at the spilled coffee on the floor, her foot tapping impatiently as she waited for me to drop to my knees with a rag.
"Are you deaf, Vivienne?" Daniel sneered, adjusting the cuffs of his expensive silk shirt. "My mother told you to mop the floor. Move."
"I heard her, Daniel," I said, my voice completely smooth, devoid of the tears they so desperately wanted to see. I picked up my handbag from the kitchen chair. "But I think you'll find the floor is the least of your concerns right now."
"Don't you walk away from me!" Daniel shouted, reaching out to grab my shoulder.
Before his hand could even graze my jacket, the heavy, double-paned glass doors of the estate's main entrance shattered inward.
The sound was like a bomb going off. Margaret shrieked, dropping her porcelain teacup, while Daniel's father jumped up from his newspaper, his face pale. Six heavily armed private security details from Vale Security marched into the foyer, creating a flawless human wall around me. At the front was Evelyn Shaw, my senior legal director, wearing a sharp charcoal suit and holding an encrypted tablet.
"What the hell is this?!" Daniel yelled, taking a step back as the security team blocked him from getting anywhere near me. "This is private property! You're trespassing!"
"Actually, Mr. Cole, you are," Evelyn said, her voice cutting through the panic like a razor blade. She tapped her screen, and the massive digital smart-home screens built into the kitchen walls suddenly flashed from their standard display to a stark corporate logo: VALE MERIDIAN HOLDINGS — ACCESS RESTRICTED.
"We are here to execute an immediate, emergency asset freezing and an ex-parte eviction of all occupants on this property," Evelyn announced, handing a thick stack of legally sealed documents to Daniel's father.
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"Vale Meridian?" Daniel’s father stammered, his hands shaking violently as he looked at the corporate seal. "No... no, our mortgage is held by a private boutique firm out of Delaware!"
"A firm that was wholly acquired by Vale Meridian Holdings eighteen months ago, Mr. Cole," I said, stepping out from behind my security detail. I looked directly at Daniel, whose jaw had completely dropped. "Did you really think a mid-level consultant could afford to take a month off work just because you asked? I didn't turn off my business notifications, Daniel. I turned off your access to my world."
