Chapter 5 - The Corporate ExecutionThe silence that followed my mother’s paralysis in the lobby was broken only by the distant hum of the hotel’s revolving doors.
My father was the first to break it. He looked at Lorenzo, then at me, his shoulders slumping as the last remaining illusion of his domestic authority evaporated completely.
"Meredith," my father said quietly, his voice hollow. "Let's go. We're done here."
"Arthur, don't you dare—"
"We are done," my father repeated, his tone carrying a rare, quiet finality that shocked even my mother into silence. He turned to me, his tired eyes meeting mine for a long, heavy second. "I'm sorry, Scarlet. For all of it."
It was the closest thing to an apology I had ever received from my father. It didn't erase twenty-eight years of standing by while my mother carved me into pieces, but it was enough to let him walk away with whatever dignity he had left.
As my parents turned and hurried toward the exit, defeated and entirely stripped of their social armor, I let out a slow, ragged breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
Lorenzo’s hand remained on the small of my back, his thumb tracing a slow, reassuring circle against the fabric of my dress.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I'm more than okay," I said, watching my mother’s designer coat disappear through the revolving doors. "I think I just breathed fresh air for the first time in my life."
"Good," Lorenzo said, dropping his hand and turning back toward the private elevators. "Because the real work starts now. Your family was just the warmup act. Ethan Prescott and his father’s real estate firm are currently trying to acquire three commercial blocks in Fremont—blocks that happen to sit directly on land controlled by my holding company."
I blinked, following him into the elevator as Tobias held the doors. "Ethan's firm? Prescott Development?"
"The very same," Lorenzo said as the doors slid shut. "For months, they've been trying to muscle out local independent businesses to build a high-rise luxury complex. They thought they had the zoning board in their back pocket."
"And let me guess," I said, a slow, predatory smile spreading across my face. "You bought the debt."
"I bought the debt, the zoning permits, and the underlying commercial leases," Lorenzo replied smoothly, turning to face me as the elevator climbed. "And since you are now my chief of staff, handling high-level acquisitions is officially your first official assignment. Would you like to ruin your ex-fiancé before lunch, or shall we wait until after the noon briefing?"
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A thrill—sharp, electric, and utterly intoxicating—raced through my veins.
"Let's not procrastinate," I said.
