Chapter 15 - The Unraveling Titan
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Graham didn't stay for the rest of his workday.
He left his briefcase sitting open on his desk, ignored four frantic calls from his board of directors regarding an emergency acquisition vote, and drove his car through a blinding Charleston downpour back to the estate.
He burst through the front door at 2:00 PM, his clothes soaked, his hair plastered to his forehead.
"Elena!" he screamed into the empty foyer, his voice echoing off the marble walls like a madman's. "Elena!"
He ran up the grand staircase, his heavy boots leaving muddy water on the white runners, and threw open the doors to the master suite.
I was standing near the window, carefully packing a large leather travel bag resting on the bed.
Across the room, two wardrobe boxes were neatly packed and taped shut.
Graham stopped in the doorway, clutching the doorframe to keep his balance. He looked at the suitcases, then at me, his eyes wide with wild, terrifying despair.
"You're leaving," he choked out, his chest heaving violently.
I placed a silk blouse inside the bag and zipped the side compartment.
"My contract for the hotel restoration in Savannah begins on Monday, Graham," I said evenly, without looking up. "I’ve rented an apartment near the waterfront. I’ll be living there permanently."
"No..." Graham staggered into the room, falling to his knees beside the bed, grabbing the edge of my coat with both hands. "No, Elena, please! Please, God, no!"
A man who had commanded two-hundred-million-dollar boardrooms, who had crushed rivals without a second thought, was kneeling on the floor, weeping violently against the hem of my coat.
"I know about the watch," he sobbed, his face buried in his hands. "Martin told me. I know what you bought for me... I know what you spent seven months finding..."
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I stopped packing. I looked down at the top of his dark head, watching his shoulders shake with agonizing, gut-wrenching sobs.
"You didn't just stop writing notes, did you?" he wept, looking up at me with red, ruined eyes. "You locked it away."
