Chapter 2 - THE DELUSION OF THE ELITE
Back at the mansion, the atmosphere was one of triumphant celebration. Rodrigo poured himself a glass of vintage scotch—a bottle that cost four thousand dollars, though he had no idea I was the one who had replenished the cellar. His mother, Evelyn, was already walking through the living room, gesturing to the various pieces of art on the walls. She was telling her sisters which paintings she planned to move to her own guest house, assuming that now that "that girl" was gone, the family assets would be redistributed.
"Finally," Evelyn sighed, fingering the pearls. "The air feels cleaner already. She was always so... common. I don't know what you saw in her, Rodrigo. Aside from her face, she brought absolutely nothing to this family name."
Rodrigo laughed, throwing himself onto the Italian leather sofa. "She was a phase, Mother. She served her purpose. I needed a wife to look good at the charity galas while I was rebuilding the firm. Now that the construction company is back on its feet, I don't need a middle-class weight dragging me down. I’ll find someone from a family that actually matters."
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The relatives cheered, clinking glasses filled with champagne. They spoke about me as if I were a ghost, a temporary glitch in their prestigious timeline. They discussed the upcoming expansion of the family business, the new summer home in Italy they expected Rodrigo to buy, and the social standing they would regain now that they didn't have to pretend to be nice to me.
Little did they know, the servers at the bank were already processing the freeze. The black titanium cards in Rodrigo’s wallet were becoming nothing more than pieces of useless plastic. The automatic payments for the mansion’s staff, the security detail, and even the electricity were being rerouted to a closed loop. They were laughing in a tomb, and the clock was ticking toward the moment the lights would literally go out on their fantasy.
