Chapter 15 - The Walk Out
My mother couldn't answer; she buried her face in her hands and began sobbing uncontrollably beside my silent father.
Melanie stood up from her chair, looking at her parents with a horrifying mixture of rage and utter disgust.
"You lied to me my whole life," Melanie whispered, her voice shaking violently as she stared at our father.
"My whole life you told me Claire was the selfish one... you told me she didn't care about this family!"
Ethan stepped in front of Melanie, putting a protective arm around her while glaring at my father with pure coldness.
"My family is pulling our investment from your company tonight, Arthur," Ethan’s father, Richard Vance, announced cold.
"We don't do business with criminals who frame their own blood."
My father collapsed heavily into an empty dining chair, his face buried in his trembling hands as his world crumbled.
The two hundred high-society guests began whispering loudly, several of them already gathering their coats to leave.
The performative, fake social paradise Arthur Bennett had spent thirty-six years constructing had completely disintegrated.
I turned away from my father, facing Master Chief Daniel Mason and the twenty-four Navy SEALs standing in formation.
"Master Chief," I said, my voice echoing clear and strong above the chaotic noise of the collapsing ballroom.
"Ma'am!" Mason responded instantly, stepping to attention along with every sailor in the room.
"Take me back to Norfolk," I commanded calmly.
"I have an officer to visit."
"Aye, aye, Rear Admiral!" Mason barked proudly.
The two rows of Navy SEALs snapped another crisp salute as I turned and began walking down the center aisle.
May you like
Commander Luis Alvarez walked directly beside me, his head held high, his chest filled with fierce, protective pride.
As I passed the threshold of the ballroom doors, I didn't look back at my father a single time.
