Chapter 5 - The Trash Is Taken Out
"The deal is dead, Graham!" the lead executive from Vance Investment Group shouted, slamming his glass onto a passing tray. "We're done!"
Graham lunged toward me, but two federal agents tackled him to the marble floor before he could cross the distance. The polished, arrogant man was reduced to a writhing, screaming mess.
"It was her idea!" Graham roared, thrashing wildly as the cold steel cuffs clicked around his wrists. He threw his mistress to the wolves without a second thought. "She demanded the emeralds! She said she wouldn't stay unless I gave her something from the vault!"
"You liar!" Sloane shrieked, sobbing hysterically as a female agent wrenched her arms behind her back. The angelic white gown was wrinkled and ruined. "He gave me the code! He told me it was his!"
I stood perfectly still, watching them destroy each other. "You thought you could prepare my daughter for my removal," I whispered, stepping close enough for only Graham to hear. "But I sent her to a private estate in Switzerland yesterday. She is safe. She will never have to see your face, or the inside of a visiting room, ever again."
As the agents dragged them kicking and screaming out of Hawthorne House, the wail of police sirens echoing through the front gates, I turned back to the stunned, silent crowd. I did not apologize. I signaled the waitstaff.
May you like
"Ladies and gentlemen," I said, lifting my glass of sparkling water. "The Hawthorne family has always believed that true power isn't about avoiding a scandal. It’s about how efficiently you remove the trash. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening."
If you would like to explore a completely different scenario in our next prompt, what kind of setting (e.g., corporate, medical, high-society) would you prefer?
