Chapter 8 - THE PUBLIC UNMASKING
The elevator chimed.
The doors opened,
and three men in dark suits stepped out.
They weren't lawyers.
They were federal agents.
Sienna screamed and tried to push past them,
but they gently moved her aside.
“Grant Whitmore?”
the lead agent asked.
Grant didn't move.
He looked like a statue made of salt.
“You’re under arrest for wire fraud,
embezzlement,
and corporate espionage.”
The agent stepped forward and clicked handcuffs onto Grant’s wrists.
The sound of the metal locking was the final note in the symphony of our marriage.
Grant looked at me one last time as they led him toward the elevator.
“You’ll be alone,
Evelyn,”
he hissed.
“Nobody will ever love you.”
“They’ll only love the trust.”
“I’d rather be loved for my trust than betrayed for yours,”
I said.
Sienna was crying hysterically now.
“What about me?
I didn't do anything!”
“You received stolen goods,
Sienna,”
Madeleine said.
“And you conspired to defraud a trust.”
“You’re coming with us too,”
the agent said.
I watched as they were both loaded into the elevator.
The doors shut,
leaving the penthouse in a ringing silence.
I walked over to the fireplace and picked up the black silk robe.
It was cold,
limp,
and meaningless.
I threw it into the trash can by the desk.
Arthur Bell walked over to me.
“Are you alright,
Evelyn?”
I looked out the window at the city.
The lights of Manhattan stretched out like a sea of diamonds.
“I’m better than alright,
Arthur.”
“I’m free.”
“What do we do about the board meeting tomorrow?”
“We tell them the truth,”
I said.
“And then we announce the new CEO.”
“Who?”
May you like
I looked at my reflection in the window.
“Me.”
