Chapter 6 - The Mask Slips
Chloe leaped to her feet, her chair crashing to the floor. “You? You’re Aegis? You’re the one who took my car? You psychotic bitch!”
“Sit down, Chloe,” I commanded. My voice held the sharp, unquestionable authority of a military officer. The command was so ingrained in my tone that Chloe instinctively dropped back into her seat, her mouth snapping shut.
My mother began to hyperventilate. “Sarah, sweetheart, honey… you won the lottery? Is that what happened? You came into money? Oh, thank God! We are saved!”
She actually tried to stand up and move toward me, a sickeningly fake smile spreading across her face. “You’re doing this to teach us a lesson, right? A cruel little prank, but we forgive you! Now, tear up these awful contracts and pay off the company debt. We’re family!”
I didn't blink. I didn't move.
“You aren't my family,” I said. “Family doesn't leave their daughter to suffer permanent nerve damage so they can pop champagne. Leo is my family. And thanks to this money, Leo’s business is booming. Yours, however, is dead.”
I pushed the contract across the table.
“Sign it, Richard.”
My father slammed his fist on the table. “I will not! I built this empire! I am your father! You owe me respect, you owe me everything! I will fight this in court! I will expose you!”
“Expose what?” Vance interjected. “That your daughter legally purchased your defaulted loans? If you fight this, Sarah doesn't sign the buyout. If she doesn't sign the buyout, the SEC and the FBI will audit your ledgers by Friday. You won't just lose the house, Richard. You will die in a federal penitentiary.”
May you like
My father looked at the contract. His hands began to shake violently. He looked at my mother, who was now sobbing into her hands, her mascara running down her cheeks in dark, ugly rivers.
Slowly, defeatedly, he picked up the pen.
