Chapter 8 - The Price of Treason
Derek frantically scrambled across the floor, gathering the torn scraps of the NDA and disownment agreement, trying to press them back together with trembling, sweat-slicked fingers.
"Look! Look, Mom, it’s destroyed!" he sobbed, his voice cracking into high-pitched hysteria. "I'll never marry her! I'll break the engagement right now! Claire, get away from me! You ruined my life! Mom, I’ll leave with you! Let me get on the jet! I’ll manage Vanguard with you!"
Claire snapped her head toward him, her face twisted in pure venom through her tears. "You coward! You spineless parasite! You begged me to have my father back you! You were the one who told me she was an embarrassment! You blamed her for everything!"
"Shut up, Claire! Shut up!" Derek screamed, the facade of the polished young entrepreneur completely shattering into ugly, desperate rage.
Margaret watched them tear each other apart in the middle of Gate 14. There was no joy in her heart, but there was an immense, purifying clarity. She had carried this boy on her back through poverty, through grief, through the grueling climb to the top of the corporate world. She had held back her fortune only to test his soul, hoping he would inherit Vanguard with humility and wisdom.
Instead, the moment he smelled phantom wealth, he had turned his fangs against the very hand that fed him.
"General Vance," Margaret said quietly, cutting through their screams with effortless grace.
"Yes, Ma'am?" the General answered instantly.
"Call airport security. These two individuals are creating a public disturbance in a secure terminal. Have them escorted outside to the curbside pick-up."
"Right away, Ma'am." Vance signaled with a flick of his wrist. Four armed airport officers immediately moved in, grabbing Derek by the shoulders and pulling him to his feet as he fought against their grip.
May you like
👉 Derek shrieked as the handcuffs clicked into place around his wrists.
***
