Chapter 3 - The Boardroom in the Ballroom
The present snapped back into focus. The string quartet was still playing a lively Vivaldi piece, blissfully unaware of the psychological slaughter occurring by the ice sculpture.
I looked up at Arthur, sliding my hand further into the crook of his arm. "I am more than ready, Arthur. I believe it's time to contextualize the evening."
Veronica’s face had drained of all color, her heavy diamond earrings suddenly looking like anchors dragging her down. She stepped forward, attempting to physically intercept Arthur, to reclaim the territory. "Arthur, what on earth are you doing? Who is this woman to you? You’re causing a scene in front of the senior partners."
"I am not causing a scene, Veronica," Arthur said, his voice carrying the calm, terrifying weight of an avalanche. "I am concluding an audit."
Gavin finally seemed to process the catastrophic shift in the power dynamic. He moved out from behind Veronica’s shadow, taking a desperate step toward me. His hands were shaking. "Bethany... Beth, what is going on? Why is he holding your arm? What did you tell him?"
"I didn't have to tell him anything, Gavin," I replied, my voice devoid of the warmth he had taken for granted for half a decade. "I simply showed him the ledgers. Both of them. The one detailing the suite at the St. Regis, and the one detailing the proxy trades on the Meritech acquisition."
The words dropped like live grenades onto the marble floor.
Two senior partners standing three feet away physically recoiled, the champagne in their glasses splashing over the rims. The word proxy trades in a room full of financial regulators and consultants was a death sentence.
Veronica gasped, her hand flying to her throat, the elegant, cruel mask she wore permanently shattering into a thousand irreparable pieces. She looked at Gavin, her eyes wide with a frantic, animalistic panic. "You idiot," she hissed, abandoning any pretense of affection. "You kept the files on your personal drive? I told you to scrub the hardware!"
Gavin opened and closed his mouth like a suffocating fish. He looked from Veronica to me, the realization of his own absolute ruin finally penetrating his thick skull. He had thought I was invisible. He had thought I was too small, too domesticated, too oblivious to understand his world. He had never realized that I was the one who built the foundation he was standing on, and I knew exactly which pillars to kick out to bring the entire structure down on his head.
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"Bethany, please," Gavin choked out, reaching for my hand. "It was just a mistake. It meant nothing. She meant nothing. I love you."
I did not pull back. I simply looked down at his trembling hand, then back up to his panicked eyes. "You don't love me, Gavin. You love the logistics I provided. You love the clean shirts, the paid bills, and the illusion of stability I gave you so you could play at being a titan. But the consultancy fee for my services just became entirely too expensive for you to afford."
