Chapter 5 - The Ghost in the Machine
Later that afternoon,
I sat in the CEO’s office—my office now—watching the rain streak against the glass.
The room still smelled like Everett’s expensive cologne and the bourbon he kept in the crystal decanter.
I picked up the decanter and poured the contents into the sink in the private bathroom.
I would have the furniture replaced by morning.
I wanted nothing left of him here.
My phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
I knew who it was before I even answered.
"Evelyn,"
Everett’s voice was broken,
desperate.
"Please."
"I’m at a motel in Jersey."
"I don't have any money."
"The manager says my credit card is blacklisted."
"They’re going to kick me out."
I leaned back in the leather chair,
listening to the sound of his breathing.
"You should have thought about that before you threw your ring at me,
Everett."
"I didn't mean it!"
he sobbed.
"I was caught up in the moment."
"Madison... she's gone,
Evelyn."
"She took the last of the cash I had in my wallet and left the motel an hour ago."
"She said she doesn't date 'unemployed losers'."
I felt a flicker of amusement.
Madison was a parasite,
and parasites always leave the host when the blood runs dry.
"She’s consistent,
at least,"
I said.
"Listen to me,
Evelyn,"
Everett pleaded.
"We can fix this."
"We can tell the press it was a stunt."
"A performance art piece."
"I’ll do anything."
"I’ll apologize on national television."
"Just let me come home."
I looked at the portrait of Everett’s father on the wall.
The man had been a shark,
but he had at least been a smart one.
He would have been ashamed of his son.
"You don't have a home,
Everett."
"The Greenwich house is being staged for sale."
"The penthouse is mine."
"The cars are mine."
"Even the clothes you’re wearing were technically a corporate expense."
"I’m sending a courier to the motel."
"He will have a set of divorce papers and a check for five thousand dollars."
"That is the last bit of charity you will ever receive from me."
"Sign the papers,"
"and you can keep the five thousand."
"Refuse,"
"and I’ll spend fifty million to make sure you spend the next ten years in a courtroom."
"Five thousand?"
Everett gasped.
"That won't even cover a week at the Waldorf!"
"You're not at the Waldorf,
Everett."
"You're at a motel in Jersey."
"Learn to budget."
I hung up the phone before he could respond.
I sat there in the silence,
the shadows of the office growing long as the sun began to set.
For ten years,
I had been a ghost in this company.
I had done the work,
made the calls,
and saved the empire,
all while letting a mediocre man take the credit so I could have a quiet life.
I had thought that being the power behind the throne was enough.
But standing in the light,
with the crown on my head and the world at my feet,
I realized I had been wrong.
The quiet life was a prison.
The noise of the battle was where I belonged.
I picked up my pen and began to sign the first of many documents.
May you like
The era of Everett Hart was over.
The reign of Evelyn Hart had just begun.
