Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF VALEThe ballroom emptied in record time.
Within ten minutes, the wealthy investors, corrupt politicians, and high-society socialites had fled the property, desperate to distance themselves from the crumbling empire of Richard Vale.
My mother sat alone at the head table, staring blankly at an empty champagne glass, her mascara smeared across her cheeks, completely abandoned by the very people she had spent decades trying to impress.
I walked down the steps of the stage, my boots clicking against the marble floor, and stopped beside her chair.
Eleanor didn't look up. Her voice was hollow, barely above a whisper. "Are you happy now, Maren? You ruined everything. Our name... our standing in the community..."
"You didn't have a community, Mother," I said quietly. "You had an audience. And the show is over."
I turned my back on her, walking out of the ballroom, through the French doors, and out toward the manicured lawn where the string quartet had abandoned their instruments.
May you like
The afternoon sun was dipping below the Ashley River, casting long, bruised shadows across the sprawling estate.
My field pack was still sitting on the bench near the fountains where I had dropped it when I first walked past the iron gates.
