Chapter 5 - The Escalation
Cole lunged toward me. "You son of a bitch!"
Before he could take two steps, Chief Raymond and two security officers slammed Cole against the glass wall. The force of the impact rattled the massive window, and Cole let out a sharp grunt of pain as his wrists were twisted behind his back and secured with heavy-duty zip ties.
"Cole!" Tessa shrieked, rushing forward, but the third officer stepped between her and her husband, holding up a hand.
"Touch an officer, ma'am, and you will spend the night in county jail," Chief Raymond warned.
Mom stumbled back, looking at me with pure horror. "Evan! Stop this! He's your brother! He's your blood!"
"Blood didn't stop his silver ring from cutting my cheek, Eleanor," I said, using her first name for the first time in my life. "Blood didn't stop you from watching him beat me while you drank your coffee."
"We were trying to teach you humility!" Mom cried out, her voice cracking. "You were always so arrogant!"
"And now I'm rich," I said, stepping closer to her. "And you are trespassing."
The security team dragged Cole toward the private elevator. He kicked and screamed, shouting curses, calling me a traitor, a coward, and a fake. Tessa followed behind him, sobbing and threatening to call every news outlet in the city.
My mother stood alone near the kitchen island for a moment, looking around the sprawling, pristine penthouse she had planned to claim for herself.
"You'll rot in hell for this, Evan," she whispered, her voice trembling with hatred. "Your father will never forgive you."
"My father dead-ended his own life ten years ago," I said flatly. "Tell him I said hello."
As the elevator doors closed on them, taking their noise and desperation down 54 floors, silence returned to the penthouse.
May you like
Vance adjusted his cuffs. "They won't stop here, Evan. People like that don't accept defeat when they see money. They will go to the press. They will try to play the victim card."
"Let them," I said, walking over to the window and looking out at the sprawling city below. "I built this empire from nothing. If they want a war, I'll make sure they don't even have enough money left to buy a white coffee mug."
