Chapter 7 - The Aftermath in the News
By Monday morning, the fallout from Nicholas’s wedding had transcended private family drama and erupted into full-blown public chaos.
I was sitting on the sunlit back porch of Emmett’s mountain home in Stowe, wearing an oversized cashmere sweater and drinking fresh coffee, when my phone began vibrating uncontrollably on the glass table.
Dozens of missed calls from my mother, my father, and Nicholas.
Then came a text message from my former college roommate, containing a link to a major financial gossip blog.
The headline read: "LOGISTICS GIANT APEX CAPITAL DROPPED FROM VANGUARD BID AFTER CEO EMMETT STEWART SPOTS 'ETHICAL FAILURE' AT VERMONT WEDDING."
The article detailed how Vanguard Dynamics had officially issued a press release that morning, announcing that Apex Capital was being permanently removed from the vendor consideration list due to "concerns regarding executive leadership integrity and corporate governance values."
The story had gone viral in the financial sector.
Without Vanguard's contract, Apex Capital’s stock had plummeted twelve percent at the market opening. Further rumors indicated that Victoria’s father was already filing paperwork to annul the marriage, citing fraudulent representations made by Nicholas regarding his firm's business prospects.
My phone rang again. It was my father.
This time, I picked it up.
"Jenna!" my father’s voice exploded through the speaker, sounding entirely panicked and frantic. "You have to fix this! Talk to Mr. Stewart! Apex is collapsing! Nicholas’s father-in-law is pulling all his investments out of the wedding expenses and the firm! Nicholas is locked in his room refusing to talk to anyone!"
I listened to my father’s desperate rambling with a cold, clear mind.
"Dad," I said quietly, cutting him off mid-sentence. "When Nicholas put me at Table Nineteen, did you say anything to him?"
Silence deadened the line.
"When he told me I was ruining the entrance," I continued, "did you stand up for me? When he insulted my hard work, did you tell him I was his sister?"
"Jenna... that... that was just family banter..." my father stammered.
"No, Dad," I said firmly. "It wasn't banter. It was cruelty. And for twenty-eight years, you and Mom enabled him because you thought he was your golden ticket to high society. You let him step on me to raise himself up. Well, he stepped on the wrong person this time."
"Jenna, please!" my father begged. "We're your family!"
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"Family respects each other, Dad," I said smoothly. "I'm changing my number today. Do not contact me again until you are ready to offer a real apology—not to save your stock price, but because you care about your daughter."
I hung up the phone, set it face-down on the table, and took a long, peaceful sip of my coffee.
