Chapter 4 - Reclaiming the Green
The grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel was filled with the elite of New York’s real estate and design industries. The annual Metropolitan Green Earth Gala was the biggest night of the year, a celebration of sustainable architecture and urban design.
Travis Whitmore was there, looking desperate, trying to smile for the cameras while his PR team tried to keep the creditors at bay. He had convinced himself that if he could just secure one major investor tonight, he could save his company.
He was standing near the champagne tower, pitching a project to a group of potential backers, when the room suddenly fell silent.
The grand double doors of the ballroom opened.
I walked in. I was seven and a half months pregnant, but I had never looked more beautiful. I wore a stunning, flowing emerald-green silk gown that draped perfectly over my pregnant figure, highlighting the life I was carrying. My hair was styled in elegant, soft waves, and my face was glowing with a confidence that had been missing for years.
Beside me walked Cole Harrington, looking powerful and striking in his classic black tuxedo, his hand resting protectively on the small of my back.
The cameras immediately turned away from the stage and began flashing rapidly in our direction. The whispers swept through the room like a wildfire.
Travis froze, his glass of champagne shaking in his hand as he watched us walk down the grand staircase.
"Madeline," a voice called out. It was Beatrice Vance, the head of the design committee and one of the most respected women in the city. She walked up to me, her eyes shining with warmth. "We were so thrilled to hear you would be attending tonight. And we are even more thrilled about the announcement."
"Thank you, Beatrice," I smiled, keeping my voice clear and confident.
"What announcement?" Travis asked, pushing his way through the crowd, his face pale and sweating under the ballroom lights. "Maddie, what are you doing here? You should be in bed. You’re pregnant, you’re unstable—"
"I have never been more stable, Travis," I said, looking at him with absolute pity.
Cole stepped forward, his voice commanding the attention of the surrounding crowd, including several prominent reporters.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Cole said, his voice echoing through the ballroom. "Tonight, Harrington Global is proud to announce our new partnership with Verdant Designs. Madeline Brooks has officially returned as the lead landscape architect for our upcoming ten-billion-dollar green-roof initiative across Manhattan."
A wave of applause and gasps erupted through the room.
"That's impossible!" Travis yelled, his composure completely shattering. "She can't sign a contract with you! Verdant Designs is a subsidiary of Whitmore Development! I own her designs! I own the firm!"
"Actually, Travis, you don't," I said, pulling a certified document from my small evening bag and handing it to a nearby reporter from the Wall Street Journal. "This morning, the New York State Supreme Court granted an emergency injunction freezing all assets of Whitmore Development due to systemic corporate fraud and embezzlement of my intellectual property. The court has restored Verdant Designs to my sole ownership."
Travis stared at the paper, his jaw dropping. He looked at the investors he had been pitching to, but they were already stepping away from him as if he were radioactive.
"You... you ruined me," Travis whispered, his eyes wild with terror.
May you like
"No, Travis," I said, looking at him one last time. "You ruined yourself. I just stopped letting you use my light to hide your darkness."
As the security guards stepped forward to escort a shouting, hysterical Travis out of the ballroom, I looked up at Cole. He was looking down at me with a smile so warm, so filled with genuine respect and affection, that my heart finally found its home.
