Chapter 7 - A Dinner of Wolves
The lights of our suburban mansion were blazing when I pulled into the driveway,
casting a warm,
mocking glow over the manicured lawn.
I walked through the front door and found Bennett waiting for me in the formal dining room,
a bottle of expensive scotch open on the table.
He looked different tonight,
the perfect hair was slightly disheveled,
and his tie was loosened around his collar,
revealing the strain he was under.
"You finally decided to show up,"
he said,
his voice thick with a mixture of anger and alcohol.
"This is still my house,
Bennett,"
I said,
setting my keys on the console table,
"although it will not be for much longer."
"You think you can just lock me out of the servers?"
he asked,
rising from his chair and slamming his glass onto the wood.
"I didn't lock you out,"
I said,
walking to the opposite side of the table,
"the security system simply recognized that you do not have authorized clearance."
"I am the president of the company,
Vivienne,"
he shouted,
his face turning red with frustration.
"You are the president of a company that has no product,"
I replied,
"Julian Thorne pulled his funding this afternoon."
The news hit him like a physical blow,
causing him to stumble back slightly against his chair.
"How did you...
what did you do?"
he whispered,
his voice suddenly losing its aggressive edge.
"I told him the truth,"
I said,
"I showed him the patent records,
and I showed him the evidence of your financial fraud."
"You ruined the deal,"
he said,
his eyes wide with disbelief,
"that was twenty million dollars in capital."
"That was twenty million dollars you intended to steal,"
I corrected him,
"using my name and my research as bait."
"Vivienne,"
he said,
stepping toward me,
his hands outstretched in a desperate plea,
"we can still fix this,
we can tell Julian it was a misunderstanding,
we can go back to how things were."
"How things were?"
I asked,
letting out a soft,
bitter laugh,
"when you were sleeping with an administrative assistant in our guest house,
while she wore my clothes and used my name?"
"That was a mistake,"
he stammered,
"Julianna means nothing to me,
she was just...
she was a distraction."
"She was your accomplice,"
I said,
"and she is currently cooperating with the district attorney to avoid prison time."
Bennett froze,
his hands dropping to his sides as the cold reality of his situation finally began to sink in.
"She...
she wouldn't,"
he whispered,
his voice trembling.
"She would,"
I said,
"and she did,
because unlike you,
she actually understands what a prison sentence looks like."
I turned toward the stairs,
ready to pack the last of my things and leave this empty,
gilded cage behind.
"You have until tomorrow morning to vacate the premises,
Bennett,"
I said,
looking back at him one last time,
"because at nine o'clock,
the bank is seizing this property as part of the asset freeze."
He did not answer,
he just stood there in the quiet room,
May you like
surrounded by the expensive things he had stolen,
finally realizing that he was completely alone.
