Chapter 7 - THE DESCENT OF MEREDITH HOLLISTER
The penthouse apartment at the Ritz-Carlton was supposed to be a temporary sanctuary for my sister.
Instead,
it had become a gilded cage where the reality of her new life was slowly sinking in.
I stood in the doorway,
watching her throw a crystal vase against the wall.
The sound of the shattering glass was the only music in the room.
“You can’t do this!”
she screamed,
her hair a wild mess of blonde tangles.
“You can’t just take everything!”
“I didn't take it,
Meredith,”
I said,
stepping over a shard of glass.
“I bought it.
There is a fundamental difference.”
She turned on me,
her face twisted in a mask of pure,
unadulterated rage.
“You’re a thief!
You manipulated the contracts!
You knew I didn't read the fine print!”
“I knew you were lazy,”
I corrected,
my voice calm and steady.
“I knew you cared more about the color of your bridesmaids' dresses than the future of the company that paid for them.”
I walked to the bar,
pouring myself a glass of water from a carafe that cost more than a month's rent for most people.
“Where is Bradley?”
I asked,
knowing the answer but wanting to hear her say it.
Meredith slumped onto the velvet sofa,
the fight suddenly draining out of her.
“In a holding cell,”
she whimpered.
“The lawyers said they can’t get him out until Monday.
They said his bail was set at a million dollars because of the 'flight risk'.”
“A million dollars,”
I mused,
swirling the water in my glass.
“That seems high for a simple trespassing charge.”
“You did it,”
she gasped,
looking up at me with wide,
terrified eyes.
“You talked to the judge.
You used your influence to keep him in there.”
I didn't deny it.
In this city,
influence was a currency,
and I had more of it than anyone else at that moment.
“Bradley needs a lesson in consequences,”
I said.
“He spent eight years mocking my education,
my career,
and my character.
Now he has plenty of time to reflect on his own.”
Meredith began to sob,
a pathetic,
heaving sound that once would have broken my heart.
Now,
it just sounded like noise.
“We have nothing,
Cate,”
she moaned.
“Dad’s accounts are frozen.
The house is gone.
Even my jewelry was listed as a company asset.”
I looked at her,
really looked at her,
and saw the girl who had stood by and watched as I was humiliated.
I remembered the way she had laughed when our father told the world I had no 'business gene'.
“You have the fifty thousand I gave you,”
I reminded her.
“It’s more than enough for a fresh start.”
“Fifty thousand?”
she spat,
her grief turning back into anger.
“I spend that much on shoes in a month!”
“Then you should learn how to walk in cheaper shoes,”
I said,
turning toward the door.
“Wait!”
she called out,
her voice desperate.
“Dad is meeting with Julian Vane.
They’re planning something,
Cate.
Something big.”
I paused,
my hand on the doorknob.
“I know,”
I said,
not looking back.
“But Julian Vane doesn't realize that I’m not the same girl who ran away ten years ago.”
“He’ll destroy you,”
Meredith warned,
her voice trembling.
“He’s not like Dad.
He’s not interested in legacy.
He’s interested in blood.”
I opened the door,
the cool air of the hallway hitting my face.
“Then he’ll be disappointed,”
I said.
“Because my blood turned to ice the day you all turned your backs on me.”
I walked away,
the sound of her sobbing following me down the hall.
I felt a twinge of something—guilt?
No.
It was just the phantom pain of a bond that had been severed long ago.
As I stepped into the elevator,
I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Nate.
'Increase the security detail around the data centers.
Julian is in play.'
The doors closed,
and the descent began.
I was no longer just the daughter who came back.
I was the predator who had taken the throne,
May you like
and now,
everyone was coming for me.
