Chapter 4 - The Clock StrikesPanic swept through the living room like wildfire.
"Andrew! What did you do?!" Patricia screamed, grabbing her son’s arm. "Is my house in danger?! Tell me my house is safe!"
"Mom, stop panicking!" Andrew yelled back, pulling his arm away, though his hands were shaking violently. "It doesn't matter! Aethelgard Capital owns half of D.C. real estate! Once I sign the deal tomorrow at 9:00 AM, I’ll have ten million dollars cash in my corporate account! I will pay off this stupid note before noon!"
He spun around to face me, his eyes wild with hatred.
"You thought you could destroy me, Lauren?!" Andrew shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at my face. "You thought you could bring down the Vance family with a petty technicality?! Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, I become one of the wealthiest men in this district! And at 9:30 AM, my lawyer files for divorce! You won't get a single dollar! I’ll make sure you and your daughters end up in a two-bedroom apartment in the slums!"
"Andrew, please," I said softly, my voice laced with lethal pity. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Get out!" Patricia shrieked, her voice cracking. "Get out of my house, you bitter, jealous woman! You and your worthless daughters! Get out before I call the police!"
"We’re leaving," I said calmly.
I took Sophia and Chloe by the hand and turned toward the door. Just before stepping out into the cold, I paused and looked back at the room full of terrified, arrogant faces.
"Andrew," I called out. "Make sure you wear your finest suit to the Aethelgard Capital headquarters tomorrow at 9:00 AM. The board is waiting for you."
"I will!" Andrew spat. "And I'll be laughing when I sign that contract!"
As the heavy oak door slammed shut behind us, Sophia tugged on my sleeve.
"Mommy," she whispered. "Are we going to be poor?"
May you like
I knelt down in the light snow falling on the driveway and pulled both of my daughters close.
"My sweet girls," I said softly, wiping a stray tear from Sophia’s cheek. "Tomorrow morning, your father is going to learn who actually built the world he lives in."
