Chapter 15 - The Panic and the Promise
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The silence on the other end of the phone was absolute, broken only by the tinny audio of the television anchor detailing the billions of dollars currently under my direct control. The reality of their catastrophic mistake was crashing down on them like a physical weight. They hadn't just insulted a naive foster girl; they had physically assaulted and attempted to defraud the most powerful woman in the city's real estate sector.
I heard a brief scuffle, and then Adrian’s voice came over the line. He had ripped the phone away from his mother.
"Elena," he said. His voice was completely unrecognizable. The arrogant, commanding tone of the man at the altar was entirely gone. He sounded terrified, out of breath, and desperate. "You told me you only owned twelve percent."
"I told you twelve percent was registered publicly under my specific name," I corrected him coldly. "The rest was held in a blind trust by my father until I was ready to assume control. I was ready today."
"You tricked me!" he shouted, his rage momentarily flaring up to mask his fear. "You lied to me for two years!"
"I protected myself," I shot back, my voice echoing like cracking ice. "You struck me across the face in a house of God because I would not let you steal what my father built."
His voice changed again. The rage instantly evaporated into a pathetic, whimpering panic as he fully grasped the legal and financial annihilation waiting for him.
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"Elena, please, listen to me. We can handle this privately. I'll apologize. I'll pay back the loans. Just don't destroy my company."
"No, Adrian," I said softly, looking at the city lights reflecting in the window. "Tomorrow morning, we handle it in daylight."
