Chapter 7 - The Final BillTwo days after the board meeting, Daniel tried to enter the condo.
I was sitting at the kitchen island drinking a cup of chamomile tea when I heard the familiar sound of a key sliding into the front door lock, followed by an aggressive jiggle.
A second later, the heavy brass knob twisted back and forth in frustration.
Then came a heavy, desperate pounding against the wood.
"Elena! Open the door!" Daniel’s voice echoed hollowly from the hallway. "I know you're in there! Stop playing games! My key isn't working—what did you do?!"
I didn't rush. I took another slow sip of my tea, set the ceramic mug down on the counter, and walked slowly to the front door. I didn't unlock it; I simply stood on the other side, listening to his ragged breathing through the thick wood.
"Elena, please!" he cried out, his voice cracking with panic. "Apex fired me! Vanguard blacklisted Rachel! We’re being investigated by corporate compliance for fraud! I have nowhere to go, all my bank accounts are frozen, and my clothes are sitting in boxes in the lobby! Please, just talk to me!"
I reached out and unlocked the deadbolt, pulling the door open just a few inches so the security chain held it in place.
Daniel’s face appeared in the gap—red-eyed, unshaven, his expensive suit wrinkled and smelling faintly of stale sweat and cheap motel rooms. He looked like a man who had fallen off the edge of the Earth and hadn't yet realized he was already dead.
"Elena," he choked out, pressing his face against the crack in the door. "Please. We've been together for five years. You love me. You can't just throw me out like trash."
"Five years, Daniel," I said, my voice completely calm, devoid of anger or sorrow. "And in all that time, you never once bothered to learn who I actually was. You thought my silence was ignorance. You thought my career was ordinary. You thought you could use my money, betray me with my 'friend,' and calculate how much I would lose if I tried to walk away."
"I was stupid!" he sobbed, sliding down the doorframe until he was kneeling in the hallway carpet. "I made a mistake! I was ambitious, I got caught up in—"
"You didn't get caught up in anything, Daniel. You revealed your character," I interrupted softly. "And as for the condo down payment—my forty-five thousand dollars was returned to my personal account yesterday morning by the title company, along with a legal lien on the property under my family trust."
Daniel froze. His head snapped up, his eyes wide with absolute horror. "A lien? But... but the mortgage is in my name—"
"The mortgage is tied to a fraudulent asset portfolio that Sariah Renewables is currently dismantling piece by piece," I replied evenly. "By next week, this building won't belong to the bank or to you. It will be liquidated under corporate recovery statutes."
I reached up and unclipped the security chain.
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"Your boxes are down in the lobby with the concierge," I said. "Don't come back here, Daniel. Because the next time I see your face, I won't be calling security. I'll be calling federal prosecutors."
Before he could utter another word, I pushed the heavy wooden door shut and locked it with a sharp, definitive click.
