Chapter 7 - SOCIAL DEATH
The fallout was a tidal wave.
Adrian’s mother called me,
sobbing,
begging for a loan.
She said the senator’s wife had canceled their brunch.
She said her bridge club had removed her from the roster.
"We're being evicted,
Mara,"
she wailed.
"Adrian can't find a job."
"Everyone knows what happened."
I listened to her for a moment,
remembering the way she had whispered 'Poor Mara' at the wedding.
"Ambition is a difficult thing,
Evelyn,"
I said.
"I'm sure you'll find a way to manage."
"Maybe you can sell your silk fans."
I hung up.
Adrian tried to sue for a 'bad faith' recall.
But my lawyers were better,
and the contract was a masterpiece of ironclad clauses.
The court dismissed his claim in ten minutes.
The judge even suggested Adrian should go back to school to learn basic finance.
It was a public humiliation that cut deeper than poverty.
Celeste’s father,
the hospital board chairman,
resigned in disgrace.
He had tried to use hospital funds to bail her out,
and I had been the one to leak the wire transfer.
He was ruined,
his legacy turned into a cautionary tale.
I sat in my favorite restaurant that night.
Table one,
by the window.
The owner came over and poured the wine himself.
"A celebration,
Ms. Mara?"
he asked.
I looked at the city lights,
at the building where Celeste’s clinic used to be.
The sign was gone.
The windows were dark.
"No,"
I said,
lifting the glass.
"Just an audit."
I felt a sense of peace that wasn't born of revenge,
but of balance.
The world was as it should be.
May you like
The predators were in the cold,
and the silent were finally heard.
