Chapter 22
No.1
The midday sun beat down on the pavement,but the air in New York still held a crisp, biting chill.
Elisa walked out of the towering glass facade of Aethel Intelligence headquarters. She had just finished a grueling, three-hour architecture review meeting. Her brain was buzzing with code, but her body felt light.
She bought a black coffee from a street vendor.The paper cup was scalding hot against her palm.
She slipped on a pair of oversized, dark sunglasses and blended into the chaotic, rushing river of pedestrians heading toward Central Park. She needed the physical exertion of walking to burn off the residual adrenaline from the meeting.
She entered the park near the south end, following the winding paved paths. The trees were bare, their branches scratching against the pale blue sky.
As she approached the wide, open expanse of Sheep Meadow, a sharp, obnoxious sound cut through the ambient noise of the park.
It was the loud, screeching laugh of a child.
Elisa slowed her pace. She turned her head toward the sound.
Through a gap in the skeletal bushes, she saw three figures standing near a wooden park bench.
Her stomach immediately contracted into a tight,painful knot.
August was standing there. He was wearing a casual, incredibly expensive navy cashmere overcoat. He was holding a large, brightly colored kite.
No.2
He was leaning down, patiently untangling the thick white string for a young boy.
Allena was standing right next to him. She had her arm looped tightly through August's elbow.She was wearing a soft pink wool coat,smiling brightly,playing the role of the perfect, loving maternal figure.
The boy was Tate Mills. Allena's younger brother.He was about seven or eight years old, and he was infamous in the elite Manhattan private school circles for being an absolute terror.
Tate let out another screeching laugh. He violently snatched the plastic string spool right out of August's hands.
The sudden, aggressive movement caused Tate to stumble backward. He crashed directly into a passing jogger.
The jogger, a man in a grey hoodie, spilled his water bottle down his own shirt.
"Hey! Watch it, kid!" the jogger snapped, glaring at Tate.
Before the jogger could take another step, a massive man in a dark suit stepped out from behind
a nearby oak tree. It was one of August's private security detail.
The bodyguard didn't say a word. He just stared at the jogger, his hand resting subtly over the distinct bulge of a firearm beneath his jacket.
The jogger's eyes widened in fear. He swallowved his anger, backed away, and quickly jogged off in the opposite direction.
No.3
August didn't scold Tate. He didn't tell him to apologize.
Instead, August chuckled. He reached out and affectionately ruffled Tate's hair.
"Lots of energy today, buddy," August said, his voice rich with indulgence.
Elisa stood frozen in the shadow of a large elm tree.
She stared at the man who had once pinned her against a wall, his eyes dark with rage, threatening to destroy her life if she ever got pregnant. She stared at the man who had called children 'parasites' that would ruin his empire.
Now, he was standing in a public park, playing the doting, patient father figure to his mistress's bratty brother.
Elisa squeezed the paper coffee cup in her hand.The scalding liquid sloshed against the plastic lid,burning her skin, but she welcomed the pain.It grounded her.
A wave of pure, physiological nausea rolled
through her digestive tract. It wasn't heartbreak. It was the absolute disgust of witnessing a hypocrite in his natural element.
Suddenly, her secondary, encrypted phone vibrated in her trench coat pocket.
She pulled it out. It was a message from Jewel.Jewel had sent a screenshot from Instagram.
No.4
Elisa tapped the image. It was a post from a highly exclusive, private account run by a prominent Upper East Side socialite.
The photo was a candid,zoomed-in shot of August,Allena, and Tate in the park, taken from a distance just moments ago.
The caption read: Mr. Chambers practicing his fatherly duties! The century wedding is definitely coming.Such a beautiful, real family.
Elisa scrolled down. The comments were a toxic sludge of sycophancy and cruelty.
'They look so perfect together. Allena is glowing.''Thank god he's finally getting rid of that barren,toxic nurse. Imagine being married for seven years and not being able to give a man like August a child.Useless.'
Elisa stared at the glowing screen. The words didn't hurt her. They just confirmed that the entire social ecosystem around August was a diseased swamp.
She swiped her thumb across the screen,permanently blocking the socialite's account.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket and looked up.
Tate was jumping up and down, pointing a demanding finger toward a luxury ice cream cart parked fifty yards away.
"I want vanilla! The expensive one! Go get it!" Tate yelled at August, treating the billionaire like an errand boy.
August actually smiled. He nodded obediently.
No.5
"Alright, alright. Hold the kite," August said.
He turned away from Allena and Tate, beginning to walk toward the ice cream cart.
As August turned, his gaze swept across the tree line.
His eyes passed over the elm tree. Then, they snapped back.
He stopped walking.
Elisa didn't hide. She stood perfectly still in the shadows. The collar of her grey trench coat was popped up, and the dark sunglasses hid her eyes,but her posture was unmistakable.
She stared directly at him. Her gaze was like a physical weight, heavy and completely dead. She looked at himn the way a coroner looks at a corpse on a steel table.
August's chest hitched. A sudden, violent jolt of electricity shot down his spine.
His eyebrows slammed together. He squinted,
trying to pierce the shadows and confirm it was her.But Elisa was already moving.
She turned on her heel with military precision.She walked away, her strides long and purposeful,instantly vanishing into a thick crowd of tourists taking photos of the skyline.
No.6
August took a step toward the trees, his heart suddenly hammering against his ribs.
His hand flew to his right wrist. His fingers frantically twisted the platinum cufflink,a desperate,subconscious attempt to ground himself.
A suffocating wave of panic washed over him. He had no control over her anymore. She was a ghost haunting his periphery, and her absolute silence was driving him insane.
"August?" Allena called out, her voice whiny. She jogged over and wrapped her arms around his waist."What's wrong? Why did you stop?"
August tore his eyes away from the empty tree line. He forced his breathing to slow down.
"Nothing," August muttered, his voice tight. "Just thought I saw someone."
He pulled away from Allena's grip and continued walking toward the cart, his mood completely ruined.
Elisa walked rapidly until she reached the park exit at 59th Street.
She stopped at a metal trash can. She lifted her
hand and dropped the full, lukewarm cup of coffee into the garbage.
She pulled out her encrypted phone and dialed the direct line to Harvey Vance, the Aethel lawyer.
No.7
The line clicked open.
"Ms. Faye," Vance's voice was crisp.
"Is the agreement drafted?" Elisa demanded.Her voice was a blade of solid ice.
"We are finalizing the Latin legal nesting clauses now," Vance replied.
"Finish it," Elisa ordered. "I need it in my hands today."