Chapter 6 - The Lobby Confrontation
Five minutes later, the private elevator doors hissed open, revealing two men who looked as though they had been dragged through a war zone.
Arthur Rowan was a man in his late fifties, usually crisp and imposing in tailored suits, but today his tie was crooked, his hair unbrushed, and his face red with exertion and terror. Behind him stood Gavin Sterling, looking like a ghost. Gavin’s eyes were sunken, dark circles carved deep into his pale skin, his hands trembling as he clutched a leather briefcase.
Sebastian stood in the center of his expansive living room, his hands tucked casually into his trouser pockets. Eve sat on the long cream-colored sofa nearby, calm, composed, and wearing a simple silk blouse.
The moment Arthur Rowan stepped off the elevator, he began talking.
"Sebastian! Please, you have to stop this madness!" Arthur cried out, taking three rapid steps forward before two heavy-set Vale private security guards stepped into his path, blocking him instantly. "The media is outside my house! The bank has frozen our credit lines for the harbor development! My daughter is in her bedroom hysterically crying!"
Sebastian didn't move an inch. His expression remained as cold as Arctic ice.
"Your daughter is a twenty-six-year-old woman, Arthur," Sebastian said smoothly. "Not a child. And she committed a crime in full view of two hundred witnesses."
"It was a party dispute!" Arthur shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "A petty argument over a misunderstanding! Celeste thought she was dealing with a volunteer who was being disrespectful! She didn't know she was your wife!"
"And if she had been a temp?" Eve’s quiet, clear voice cut through Arthur’s ranting.
Arthur stopped, blinking as he turned his attention toward Eve.
Eve stood up slowly from the sofa, her posture straight, her eyes fixed on the older man.
"If I had been a nineteen-year-old student working her first catering job for minimum wage," Eve said softly, "would it have been acceptable for your daughter to rip her clothing open? Would it have been acceptable to stand over her while she was half-naked and laugh at her?"
Arthur opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked down, swallowed hard, and stammered, "No... of course not... but Celeste is young, she’s emotional—"
"She is a bully," Eve corrected flatly. "And she learned it from men like you, who believe that a bank balance elevates you above basic human decency."
Gavin Sterling stepped out from behind Arthur, dropping to his knees right there on the marble floor of the penthouse.
"Eve... please," Gavin wept openly, his pride entirely shattered. "I’m begging you. Talk to Sebastian. If Vale Global pulls its funds from my firm, we will go bankrupt by the end of the week. I will be ruined! I’ll lose my house, my license, everything!"
Eve looked down at the kneeling man. She remembered how arrogantly he had looked at her the night before, how he had calculated the social cost of helping a woman in distress and decided her humiliation was worth his career standing.
"You sat at the head table, Gavin," Eve said, her voice devoid of anger, containing only a profound pity. "You watched a woman get attacked two feet away from you. You didn't just stay quiet—you covered your mouth so people wouldn't see you enjoying it."
"I was afraid!" Gavin sobbed. "I didn't want Celeste to cause a scene!"
"You made your choice, Gavin," Sebastian interjected, his voice slamming down like a gavel. "You chose to protect your access to Arthur Rowan’s social circle over doing what any decent man would do. Now you will live with the financial reality of that choice."
Sebastian turned to his security guards.
"Escort them out of my home," Sebastian ordered.
"Sebastian, wait!" Arthur screamed as the security guards took him firmly by the arms, turning him back toward the elevator. "We can settle this! I’ll give your foundation twenty percent of Rowan Logistics! I’ll publically fire Celeste from the board! Don't destroy my family over this!"
"You destroyed your family the day you raised a daughter who thinks she can tear the clothes off another human being for fun," Sebastian said coldly as the elevator doors began to close. "Good day, Arthur."
The doors slid shut, cutting off Arthur’s frantic screaming.
The penthouse fell quiet once more.
Eve let out a long, slow breath, sitting back down on the sofa. She looked at her hands, which were steady now.
Sebastian walked over, dropping to one knee beside her, taking her hands in his.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly, searching her eyes for any sign of distress.
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"I'm fine," she murmured, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his. "I just want this to be over."
"It will be over soon," Sebastian promised, kissing her forehead softly. "Very soon."
