Chapter 6 - The Blackout Order
Patrick took the phone back from my trembling hands. He didn't dial a normal number. He hit a single speed-dial button that connected directly to his executive security and operations chief.
The line picked up on the first ring.
“Marcus,” Patrick commanded, his voice vibrating with lethal, executive authority. “Initiate a full operational freeze on the St. Regis grand ballroom event. Now.”
I sat frozen in my vinyl chair, watching the man I had slept next to for five years transform into an absolute apex predator.
“Yes, Vanguard override,” Patrick continued smoothly. “Kill the power to the ballroom. Shut down the catering service immediately. Inform the hotel management that the venue contract is officially voided due to non-payment of the secondary security deposit. Have the private security detail escort every single guest off the premises.”
He paused, his dark eyes locking onto mine.
“And Marcus? Call the boutique finance division. Freeze Eleanor’s personal credit line. Flag the account for immediate collection of the principal debt. I want her cards declining before she even reaches the valet stand.”
Patrick hung up the phone. He didn't look angry. He looked like a man who had just swatted a mosquito. He walked back to the bed, pulled up his chair, and gently took Leo’s tiny hand back into his own.
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“The doctors are going to fix him,” Patrick promised me, his voice returning to the gentle, warm husband I knew. “And when they do, we are moving to the Vanguard estate in Aspen. You will never have to answer a phone call from that woman ever again.”
👉 While we sat quietly in the ICU, the St. Regis ballroom was about to descend into absolute, humiliating chaos.
