Chapter 5 - The Aftermath in the Lobby
The ballroom exploded into pure chaos the moment Natalie walked off the stage.
Reporters surged forward, camera flashes exploding like strobe lights as they tried to reach the front of the room. Investors were standing up, shouting questions at the Harrington board members, while two state senators quickly quietly exited through the side doors to distance themselves from the unfolding scandal.
"Mr. Harrington! Is Harrington Coastal filing for Chapter 11?"
"Mrs. Harrington! Did you commit contract fraud this morning?"
"Lucas! Is it true your wife owns Horizon Aero?"
Security guards struggled to contain the tide of people as Lucas stood frozen behind the table, his eyes fixed on the empty spot where Natalie had been sitting seconds ago. His mind was spinning, his chest heaving as if he had run a marathon.
Three hundred million dollars. Forty-eight hours.
Harrington Coastal didn't have three hundred million dollars in liquid cash. Everything they owned was tied up in land acquisitions and ongoing construction in Palm Beach. If Horizon called in that note, the stock would plunge to zero before the market opened on Monday morning.
"Arthur!" Eleanor grabbed her lawyer by his lapels, her face pale and her voice shrill with panic. "Fix this! Tell them it's a breach of contract! Sue her! Sue Horizon!"
"With what money, Mrs. Harrington?" Pendelton shouted back, shaking her off. "Their legal team has sixty attorneys on retainer! The master agreement is airtight! You signed the 5:40 AM amendment yourself! You handed her the gun and asked her to shoot us!"
Brooke ran up to the stage, crying hysterically, her expensive mascara running down her cheeks. "Mom! My friends are texting me! The news just broke on Twitter! Everyone knows! Everyone is laughing at us!"
"Shut up, Brooke!" Lucas roared.
It was the first time in his entire life he had ever raised his voice at his family.
Brooke flinched, stepping back in shock. Eleanor turned to stare at him, her eyes wide.
Lucas stepped off the stage, throwing his leather portfolio onto the floor. His eyes were burning with a terrifying mixture of rage and grief.
"You did this," Lucas said, stepping toward his mother.
"Lucas, I was trying to protect your future—"
"You hit my wife!" Lucas shouted, his voice echoing over the noise of the ballroom, causing several nearby reporters to turn their cameras toward him. "You slapped the CEO of Horizon Aero! You treated her like trash for four years, and I... I let you do it! I let you convince me that she wasn't good enough for us!"
"She lied to you, Lucas!" Eleanor yelled back, trying to maintain her authority. "She kept secrets! A real wife doesn't test her husband!"
"She didn't test me!" Lucas cried out, tears finally breaking through his eyes and streaming down his face. "She loved me! She lived in a two-bedroom apartment with me when I had nothing! She listened to me complain about the board every night! She made my coffee! She took your insults for four years because she wanted to see if I was a real man who would stand up for her!"
He dropped his head into his hands, a broken, agonizing sob tearing through his throat.
"And I failed," he whispered. "I chose a jet and a title over the only person who ever truly cared about me."
He turned and pushed his way through the crowd of reporters, ignoring the cameras, ignoring his mother's screams for him to come back.
He ran out of the convention center into the hot Florida sun, looking frantically up and down the boulevard.
A quarter-mile down the road, a fleet of black sedans was pulling away from the curb, escorted by two police motorcycles. In the back seat of the lead car, behind the tinted glass, he caught a brief glimpse of Natalie's profile.
May you like
She didn't look back.
Lucas fell to his knees on the concrete pavement, clutching his chest, the weight of his own choices crushing him into the dust.
