Chapter 4 - The Inventory of Arrogance
"You lied to me," Claire whispered, her tears finally overflowing, though they weren't tears of griefâthey were tears of profound, terrifying humiliation. "For eight years... you let my mother talk to you like that. You let my father call you a loser. You let us think you had nothing!"
"You asked me to keep it a secret, Claire," I reminded her, my eyes narrowing into two slits of green stone. "The second week after we married, you told me your family was traditional. You said if they knew I was a high-level executive, they would treat me differently, that they would try to leverage my position for their business. You begged me to let them think I was just a field worker. So I did. I gave you exactly what you asked for."
"But you didn't keep the secret to protect my family, did you?" I continued, my voice dropping an octave. "You kept the secret because you wanted to keep my money away from your family's books until you could find a way to secure a permanent share of it. You thought you were managing a 'broke husband' while quietly planning an exit strategy with your divorce lawyer."
"Daniel, listen to me," Martin interrupted, his arrogant demeanor completely collapsing as he dropped into a chair across from me. He reached across the table, his palms sweaty. "We're reasonable men. We're family men. If there was a misunderstanding at Christmas dinner... it was just the champagne. The market has been stressful. We had no idea you were the principal behind W-Trust. If we had knownâ"
"If you had known I was rich, you wouldn't have thrown my sixteen-year-old daughter into a snowstorm without a coat," I roared, slamming my palm onto the table. The sound was like a gunshot, causing Claire to jump in her seat.
"You didn't care who she was when she was standing on your porch freezing, Martin," I said, my teeth clenched so tightly my jaw ached. "You didn't care about family values when you handed me a divorce folder while raising a glass of Dom PĂ©rignon. You thought you were putting an old dog down. Well, the dog owns the yard, Martin."
Arthur Pendelton slid a stack of legal notices across the table to Martin's attorney, who had remained silent in the corner, his face pale.
"As of ten-fifteen this morning," Arthur announced, "Whitaker Construction has filed a formal motion with the state commerce department to liquidate the credit guarantees for Collins Distribution. Since your assets are currently tied to our leased facility, we are exercising our right of immediate repossession. You have forty-eight hours to clear your inventory from the Bryn Mawr facility. Any property remaining after Wednesday at noon will be seized as partial payment for the outstanding five-million-dollar default."
"Daniel, please!" Claire cried, reaching across the table to grab my sleeve. "You can't do this! My brothers... their families depend on that distribution contract! Our entire legacy is tied to that warehouse!"
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I slowly reached down, unclasped her fingers from my tailored wool sleeve, and pushed her hand back across the table.
"Your legacy froze to death on a porch on Christmas Eve, Claire," I said coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a company to run. My assistant will show you to the freight elevator."
