Chapter 6 - The Beggar at the Gate"Sit down, Michael," I said calmly, pointing to the armchair across from me.
He didn't sit. Instead, he took three quick steps toward me and dropped heavily to his knees on the Persian rug. The former titan of industry was kneeling at my feet, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
"Evelyn... please," he wept, clutching his hands together in a desperate plea. "Please, I’m begging you. Stop this. They’re going to indict me. The grand jury is convening next week. I’m facing federal prison, Evelyn! At my age, a prison sentence is a death sentence!"
I looked down at him, feeling a strange mixture of pity and profound detachment. "You brought this upon yourself, Michael. You stole from the company. You lied to the board. You thought you were untouchable."
"I was stupid! I was foolish! Amber... Amber manipulated me!" he cried, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes, desperately trying to shift the blame. "She seduced me, Evelyn! She made me feel young again, she filled my head with crazy ideas! I didn't mean to hurt you! I was out of my mind!"
"You were completely in your right mind when you stood at the foot of my bed," I reminded him quietly, my voice unyielding as ice. "You looked me in the eye while I was recovering from surgery and told me I was old. You told me I was sick. You told me I no longer had value."
Michael winced as if I had struck him across the face. "I was wrong! I didn't mean it! You built this company with me, Evelyn! You're the smartest, strongest woman I've ever known! Please... talk to the prosecutor. Tell them it was a corporate misunderstanding. Drop the civil suit. I’ll give you the house, I’ll give you the cars, I’ll take a small settlement and go away forever! Just don't let them send me to prison!"
I leaned forward, looking deeply into the eyes of the man I had loved for nearly half a century.
"Do you know what hurt the most, Michael?" I asked softly. "It wasn't that you cheated on me. It wasn't even that you wanted a divorce. It was the fact that after forty-eight years, you looked at me and decided I was nothing. You thought you could throw me away like a piece of trash."
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"I was a fool!" he sobbed, reaching out to touch my knee, but I pulled back.
"Yes, you were," I agreed. "And now, the bill has come due."
