Faith, shut up, Frank roared, lunging forward. I didn’t flinch. I turned my gaze on him, cold and sharp as a diamond cutter. He sold it for $300 to buy Tyler a gaming computer. He told me to figure it out. So, I did. I left. I built Eegis from a shelter in Seattle with nothing but the clothes on my back. Tyler didn’t give me seed money. He took my only tool. He hasn’t had a job in 2 years. The trading station he showed you is for video games and the money for this party. They tried to blackmail me into paying for it 3 days ago. Liar. Susan screamed, her voice shrill and hysterical. She’s lying. She’s mentally unstable. She’s always been jealous of Tyler. I looked at Mr. Holloway. The document on the bar contains bank statements, foreclosure notices for my parents’ home, and Tyler’s arrest record for the DUI he told you was a parking dispute. It also contains the email thread where my father threatened to smear my reputation if I didn’t pay for this party. I pushed the dossier toward Jessica. I didn’t come here to ruin your night, Jessica, I said. I came here because I refuse to let you marry a man who is marrying you for a bailout. You are the exit strategy. Tyler’s face was a mask of crumbling plaster. He looked at Jessica, panic, seizing his features. Babe, don’t listen to her. She’s crazy. She’s obsessed with me. It’s a sibling rivalry thing. Jessica looked at Tyler. Then she looked at the magazine on the bar where my face stared out with undeniable authority. Then she looked at the dossier. She reached out and opened the folder. The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. It was the sound of a carefully constructed reality shattering into dust. Jessica read the first page, then the second. Her hands started to shake. She looked up at Tyler, her eyes filling with tears. But behind the tears, there was a dawn of horrific realization. You said you managed a portfolio, she whispered. This says you have a credit score of 420 and wage garnishments. Just baby, I can explain. Tyler stammered, reaching for her.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
It wasn’t a scream. It was a flat dead command. She stepped back, bumping into her father. Mr. Holloway picked up the dossier. He scanned it with the speed of a man who read contracts for a living. His face went purple. He looked at Frank, who was now sweating profusely, trying to loosen his bow tie. You told me the deposit was covered by a trust fund. Mr. Holloway growled. It It was a liquidity issue, Frank sputtered. Faith was supposed to, she promised.
“Get out,” Mr. Holloway said.
His voice was low, vibrating with the kind of power Frank could only dream of possessing.
“Get out of my club. Get out of my daughter’s life. If you ever contact her again, I will bury you under so much litigation you won’t be able to breathe.”
But the engagement, Susan wailed, looking around at the guests who were now openly staring, whispering, judging. The invitations.
“There is no engagement,” Jessica said, her voice breaking.
She took off the ring. A ring I realized with a sick jolt was likely paid for by a maxed out credit card in Susan’s name and dropped it into a half empty glass of champagne.
“It’s over.”
Frank turned on me. His eyes were wild, filled with a hatred so pure it was almost impressive. He raised a hand as if to strike me. You ungrateful little witch. You ruined everything. I’ll sue you. I’ll tell the press everything. I didn’t step back. I pulled my phone from my pocket. Go ahead, Frank. Sue me. But before you do, you should know that I have a legal team on retainer who specialize in defamation and extortion. And I have the recording of your phone call from Tuesday. If you mention my name to a reporter or if you ever try to contact me again, I will file charges for attempted extortion and fraud. I took a step closer to him, towering over him in my heels. You told me to be resourceful, I said, my voice echoing in the silent hall. I was. I figured it out. And now you’re going to have to figure out how to pay for this party. Frank’s hand dropped. He looked at the room full of people at Mr. Holloway’s fury at his weeping wife and ruined son. He shrank. For the first time in my life, I saw him for what he was, a small, bitter man standing in the wreckage of his own ego. He didn’t say a word. He just turned and walked away. Susan trailing him, sobbing into her hands. Tyler looked at Jessica one last time, saw the stone wall of her father standing beside her, and slunk away after his parents. The room exhaled. I stood there e for a moment, the adrenaline beginning to fade, leaving a trembling exhaustion in its wake. A vase. I turned. Jessica was standing there. Her makeup was running and she looked devastated, but she was standing upright.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I softened. I walked over to her.
“I’m sorry, Jessica. I really am. You didn’t deserve this.”
“No,” she shook her head, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t. But better to know now than after the wedding, right?”
She looked at the dossier on the bar.
“You saved me. He He would have drained me dry, wouldn’t he?”
Yes, I said honestly, he would have. Mr. Holloway stepped forward, placing a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. He looked at me with a new expression. Respect. You’re the CEO of Eegis. I am. I read about your acquisition, he said, nodding slowly. Impressive work. You have integrity, Miss Miller. That’s a rare commodity. If you ever need anything in this town, well, you call us.
“I appreciate that,” I said. “But I don’t think I’ll be coming back to this town.”
I looked around the room one last time. It didn’t look scary anymore. It didn’t look impressive. It just looked like a room. I walked out of the country club into the cool night air. The stars were bright above the parking lot, clearer than they ever were in Seattle. I walked to my rental car, my heels clicking on the asphalt. I had come here looking for justice. Maybe even a little revenge. But as I sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine, I realized I hadn’t just gotten revenge. I had gotten liberation. The cord was cut. The debt was paid. The study in the hallway was just a memory now, powerless to hurt me. I pulled out my phone and opened my email. I selected the folder marked family. I clicked select all. Then I clicked delete forever. I put the car in gear and drove toward the airfield. I had a company to run and a life, a real vibrant, hard earned life waiting for me. I had figured it
