Chapter 4 - The Patriarch's Fall
Richard Hale was a man accustomed to deference. He walked into the Monarch Room with his chin high, his expensive winter coat draped over his shoulders, but the moment he saw the armed men guarding his son's table, his composure fractured.
"Dominic," Richard said, his voice booming through the empty restaurant. "What is the meaning of this? My son made a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake. I’ve already spoken to the restaurant owner. We will buy out the establishment, we will compensate the girl—"
"The girl," Dominic repeated, cutting him off with a voice like shattering ice.
Dominic walked out of the manager's office, leading Elena by the hand. She stood tall, her head held high despite her shaved hair, her eyes fierce and steady.
Richard Hale stopped speaking. His gaze moved from Elena’s hair to the small, brilliant diamond ring hanging from the silver chain around her neck. He recognized the ring. He had seen it on Dominic Vale's grandmother twenty years ago at a private gala.
The older man's face went completely gray. "Oh, God."
"You recognize her now, Richard?" Dominic asked, stepping between Richard and Elena. "This isn't a waitress from the Southwest Side. This is Elena Vale. The woman who carries my name. The woman your son thought he could humiliate for a video."
Richard turned to his son, his expression shifting from arrogance to absolute fury. He walked over to Table Twelve and slapped Preston across the face so hard the young man fell out of his chair.
"You idiot!" Richard roared. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"Dad!" Preston cried, holding his bruised cheek from the floor. "She was just a waitress! They didn't tell us!"
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"Silence!" Richard turned back to Dominic, his hands shaking as he held them out in a gesture of desperate negotiation. "Dominic, please. Let’s be reasonable. The Hale Corporation employs five thousand people. We have three major city projects opening next month. If you pull the unions, we go under in a week."
"Then you have six days to prepare for bankruptcy," Dominic said coldly. "Victor, escort Mr. Hale out. His son stays until my wife decides he can leave."
