Chapter 124
No.1
At seven o'clock that evening, the freezing rain over Manhattan had not stopped.
Elisa pushed through the heavy glass doors of Le Bernardin, shaking the water from her black umbrella. The air inside the three-Michelin-star restaurant was warm, smelling of expensive truffles and reduced wine.
This dinner was not her idea. Germaine Chambers had personally called the penthouse landline,ordering Elisa to meet August here to "discuss the upcoming trust fund renewals" and to "smooth over the embarrassing optics of Aspen."①
The maître d' recognized her instantly. He offered a polite, practiced bow and led her through the hushed, elegant dining room to the most private,secluded corner booth. A single, romantic candle flickered in the center of the white linen tablecloth.
Elisa handed her wet trench coat to the waiter. She sat down on the plush leather bench.
She pulled back the sleeve of her silk blouse and checked her Patek Philippe. It was 7:05 PM. The seat across from her was empty.
She did not pull out her phone to text him. She did not feel the familiar, sickening knot of anxiety in her stomach.
No.2
When the waiter approached, Elisaordered a glass of sparkling water. Then, she reached into her leather tote bag and pulled out a thick stack of legal documents.
Time bled away.
7:30 PM. 8:00 PM. 8:30 PM.
The restaurant shifted around her. Wealthy couples finished their meals and left. New patrons arrived.Occasionally,a woman in diamonds would glance over at the beautiful woman sitting entirely alone in the romantic booth, her eyes flashing with a mix of pity and mockery.
Elisa ignored them all. She uncapped a red Montblanc pen and began aggressively marking up the legal documents. Her eyes scanned the complex financial jargon, her brain operating with the cold efficiency of a machine. She was treating the most romantic restaurant in New York like a sterile boardroom. After an hour, a dull, throbbing ache began to radiate from her lower back, a grim reminder of Aspen. She subtly shifted her weight on the leather bench, gritting her teeth against the pain before forcing her focus back to the contract's fine print.
At exactly 9:00 PM, the waiter finally approached the table, his face tight with professional awkwardness.
"Madam," the waiter murmured softly. "Would you like to place an order, or should we continue to wait for your guest?"
No.3
Elisa didn't look up from her papers. She capped her red pen with a sharp click.
"No need," Elisa said, her voice perfectly calm."Just bring me the check for the water."
She knew August was not coming. He was likely trapped in whatever emotional crisis Allena had manufactured to keep him away.
Ten minutes later, Elisa stood under the awning outside the restaurant. The neon lights of the city reflected off the wet pavement.
She pulled out her encrypted phone and dialed Harvey Vance.
The lawyer picked up on the second ring. "Elisa.It's late. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," Elisa said, her voice cutting through the sound of the traffic. "I want you to immediately initiate the discovery process on the Chambers' hidden offshore trust funds. The ones August set up in the Cayman Islands right before our wedding."2
No.4
Harvey inhaled sharply. "Elisa, if we trigger a formal discovery on those trusts, Germaine will go nuclear.She will unleash the full weight of the Chambers legal team against you."
"Let her," Elisa sneered, her breath pluming in the cold air. "I have the audio recordings of August ordering the destruction of evidence from the car crash. I have the PR logs. I have enough leverage to burn his public image to the ground."①
She stepped closer to the curb, her eyes hard.
"I don't just want the divorce anymore, Harvey,"Elisa stated, her voice dropping to a lethal frequency. "I want my half of the assets. And I want to squeeze him so hard he chokes up my mother's antique enamel locket.Do it."
She hung up before Harvey could argue.
Elisa raised her hand and hailed a yellow cab. She climbed into the back seat, giving the driver the address to the penthouse.
As the cab sped down the wet avenues, Elisa looked out the window. He heart beat with a slow,steady rhythm. In the past, sitting alone in a restaurant for two hours would have destroyed her.She would have cried. She would have begged for an explanation.
No.5
Now, his absence was just a tactical advantage. It gave her the physical space and time to plot his financial ruin.
The cab pulled up to the luxury high-rise. Elisa paid the driver and stepped out into the freezing wind.
Just as she reached the revolving doors,her phone vibrated in her pocket.
She pulled it out. It was a text message from August.
Board meeting ran late. Dealing with acrisis.Won't be home tonight.
Elisa stared at the glowing screen. The lie was so
lazy, so utterly devoid of effort, it was almost insulting.
No.6
She didn't feel the urge to reply. She didn't even type a period. She simply hit the lock button,plunging the screen into darkness, and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
She walked through the grand marble lobby, her high heels clicking sharply against the stone. She stepped into the private elevator and swiped her keycard.
The elevator shot up to the top floor.
The doors slid open. Elisa stepped out into the private foyer.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
The heavy double doors to the penthouse were propped wide open. Bright light spilled out into the hallway.
Elisa's brow furrowed. Had August actually come home?
No.7
She walked cautiously through the open doors.
There was no August. Instead, standing in the center of her pristine living room, were three men wearing Sotheby's uniforms. And sitting on the floor between them was a massive, reinforced wooden shipping crate, easily half the size of a refrigerator.