Chapter 7: The Cliffhanger and the Final-Stage Execution
A high-pitched, ringing sound—like tinnitus after a flashbang grenade—began to blend into an eerie, suspenseful lingering drone that filled the cavernous dining room, drowning out the sound of the storm outside. I stepped right up to the edge of the overturned chair where Julian cowered on the floor, leaning down until my face was inches from his pale, sweating forehead. The remnants of the fruit cake smeared across my collar smelled sweet and cloying, a stark contrast to the absolute terror radiating from my fiancé. I lowered my voice into an icy, lethal whisper that carried the finality of a guillotine blade dropping in an empty courtyard. “The wedding is off,” I whispered coldly, watching his pupils dilate with absolute horror. “And to answer your mother’s question about knowing my place... my place is at the top. Because I just bought this estate.” Julian let out a choked gasp, his hands flying to his mouth as the words detonated inside his brain. He knew the estate was leveraged to the hilt. He knew the massive, ballooning mortgage held by the bank was due at the end of the fiscal quarter. He knew his family was hanging by a thread of pure bluff. And now, that thread had just been severed by the woman they had spent the evening humiliating. I straightened up, turning my back on the pathetic duo huddled against the wood-paneled wall. Without looking back, I reached into my jacket pocket, pulled out my smartphone, and tapped the screen to end the high-definition recording that had captured every single second of their cruelty, bigotry, and assault from three different camera angles hidden in the antique wall sconces. The digital evidence was already uploading to my legal team’s cloud server and forwarding directly to the chief financial officers of every creditor holding the Van Der Bilt family debt.
