Chapter 4 - Freezing the Frame
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The freezing Cleveland air hit Margot’s face like an ice bath the moment she pushed through the heavy glass doors of Marble Room.
Her left cheek throbbed with every heartbeat, but her mind was operating with terrifying, crystalline clarity. She walked two blocks down Euclid Avenue toward her parked sedan, pulling her thick coat tighter around her throat.
Before she reached the curb, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
It was an automated alert from her bank: Your primary checking account has been frozen by the primary holder.
Three seconds later, a second notification flashed across her screen: Your corporate credentials for Whitfield Development have been revoked.
Trevor wasn't waiting. The moment she walked out of that dining room, he had pulled out his phone and initiated a total blockade of her life.
Standing beneath the flickering streetlamp, Margot opened her personal email app. A forwarded message from her consulting firm's managing director appeared at the top of her inbox.
Margot, the email read. Trevor Whitfield just called the senior partners. He claims you had a severe emotional breakdown at dinner, destroyed confidential development files, and are no longer mentally fit to represent our firm on the East Bank project. We are placing you on unpaid administrative leave effective immediately.
Margot stared at the glowing screen as ice began to fall softly from the dark Ohio sky.
Trevor thought he knew how this story would end.
He thought taking her money would paralyze her. He thought stripping her title would shame her into hiding. He thought a room full of wealthy witnesses would protect his reputation over a humiliated woman.
What Trevor didn't realize was that Margot hadn't spent the afternoon just reviewing his permit packet.
May you like
She had audited it.
And she still had the raw floor data saved on her offline drive.
