Chapter 4 - The Extraction of the Parasites
The doors to the express elevator opened on the penthouse level with a soft, melodic chime that normally signaled absolute luxury. Tonight, it sounded like a funeral knell.
Four uniform police officers, accompanied by two federal marshals, stepped onto the plush custom-carpeted hallway of the presidential suite. I walked behind them, flanked by Marcus’s security detail—who had now officially sworn allegiance to the Sterling Group after receiving an immediate 20% retention bonus from my father’s payroll department.
Marcus was brought up behind us in handcuffs, his head bowed, his expensive tuxedo jacket rumpled and stained with the sweat of his panic.
The double doors to the presidential suite were thrown open. Inside, Chloe was sitting on the velvet sofa, sipping a glass of vintage Cristal champagne that I had purchased for our upcoming anniversary. She was still wrapped in my ivory silk robe, the sapphire brooch pinned crudely over her heart.
"Marcus, darling, what is taking so long?" Chloe called out lazily, not looking up from her phone. "The room service system is completely dead, and the internet—"
She cut herself off as she finally noticed the sea of police uniforms entering the room. She dropped the champagne glass, the sparkling liquid soaking into the five-figure Persian rug.
"What... what is going on?" Chloe gasped, scrambling to her feet, her eyes wide with terror as she saw Marcus in handcuffs. "Marcus? Why are they holding you?"
"Ms. Chloe Higgins," the lead detective said, stepping forward with an open evidence bag. "You are under arrest for grand larceny and possession of stolen luxury goods exceeding a value of one million dollars. Please remove the brooch immediately and step away from the personal belongings of Mrs. Vivian Sterling."
"Stolen?" Chloe shrieked, backing away toward the bedroom doors. "No! Marcus gave it to me! He told me everything in this suite belonged to him! He said his wife was a broke nobody who was living off his charity!"
"Marcus lied to you, Chloe," I said, stepping into the light of the crystal chandelier. "Just like he lied to the board, just like he lied to the media, and just like he lied to himself. This room, the robe you are wearing, the champagne you just wasted, and the man you thought was your golden ticket—they all belong to the Sterling family estate. And we are currently evicting the trash."
"Vivian, please!" Chloe fell to her knees, crying hysterically, her perfect makeup smudging down her cheeks. "I didn't know! I swear I didn't know! He told me you were getting a divorce! He told me he owned the whole brand! Don't let them take me to jail!"
"Officer, please secure the evidence," I said, completely ignoring her tears. I had seen her laugh while I was pushed out into the cold. I had seen her mock my mother’s memory by wearing that brooch. My mercy had died on the pavement outside.
The officers moved efficiently, unpinning the sapphire brooch from the robe and placing it safely into the velvet-lined evidence bag before clicking steel handcuffs around Chloe’s wrists. She was led out of the penthouse screaming, her bare feet dragging against the carpet, a pathetic contrast to the glamorous mistress who had pranced around the lobby less than an hour ago.
Marcus watched her go, his eyes completely hollow. He looked at me, his voice a low, broken whisper. "You’ve destroyed everything, Vivian. The Aethelgard name... it’s ruined. The hospitality world will never forget this scandal."
"The Aethelgard name is dead, Marcus," I agreed, looking around the magnificent suite I had spent months perfecting. "Tomorrow morning, the signage on all forty-two properties will be dismantled. The brand is being absorbed into the Sterling Luxury Collection. The world won't remember the scandal, Marcus. They will just remember that a small parasite tried to steal from the host, and the host simply shook him off."
"Take him away," Marcus’s own security chief commanded the officers.
As Marcus was led toward the service elevator—the same elevator used to remove the trash—the clock on the penthouse wall clicked over.
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12:00 AM. Midnight.
The eviction was complete. The kingdom had returned to its true ruler.
