Chapter 10 - The Shattered Pride
One week later,
the heavy iron doors of the state penitentiary visitor room buzzed loudly,
opening to reveal a cold,
damp room separated by thick bulletproof glass.
Daniel was led into the room by two armed guards,
his ankles chained together,
his hands bound tightly at his waist.
He sat down heavily on the cold metal stool,
his eyes hollow,
his cheeks sunken,
his body trembling uncontrollably.
Sitting on the other side of the thick glass wall was Emily.
She was dressed in a pristine cream-colored trench coat,
sipping a warm coffee from a porcelain cup held in her leather-gloved hands.
She looked like she belonged to a completely different species than the broken man sitting across from her.
Daniel picked up the small plastic intercommunication phone with his shaking,
handcuffed hands.
Emily slowly picked up her phone,
holding it to her ear,
her expression completely unreadable.
"Emily..."
Daniel sobbed,
pressuring his forehead flat against the cold glass.
"Please..."
"Please,
I am begging you..."
"Tell your lawyers to drop the criminal charges..."
"I can't survive in here,
Emily!"
"The guards...
the other inmates..."
"They are ruthless!"
"I'm losing my mind!"
"You were always so strong,
Daniel,"
Emily said smoothly,
her voice coming through the small phone speaker with quiet,
devastating clarity.
"You were the provider."
"You were the powerful CEO who built an empire."
"Why are you crying like a helpless child?"
"I was stupid!"
Daniel wailed,
tears streaming freely down his pale,
dirty face.
"I was blinded by my mother!"
"She manipulated me!"
"She made me think you were nothing!"
"I swear to you,
Emily,"
"if you let me out,"
"I will never see her again!"
"I will sign a full confession against her!"
"I will work for you as a servant for the rest of my life!"
"Just please...
don't leave me in this dark hole!"
Emily listened to his frantic,
pathetic begging without a single flicker of emotion on her beautiful face.
"Do you know what the saddest part of all this is,
Daniel?"
Emily asked softly,
leaning slightly closer to the glass.
"What?"
Daniel squeaked,
his eyes filled with a tiny,
desperate spark of hope.
"If you had simply been a good husband,"
Emily said quietly,
"if you had shown me respect,"
"if you had protected me from your mother's cruelty,"
"half of Vanguard Global would have belonged to you today."
"You would have been one of the wealthiest,"
"most respected men in the entire country."
"I would have given you the world on a silver platter."
Daniel's jaw dropped open.
The sheer magnitude of what he had thrown away crashed down upon his soul like an exploding star.
He had traded a real empire worth billions of dollars,
unconditional love,
and absolute power...
all for the sake of his mother's petty pride and his own fragile,
arrogant ego.
"No..."
Daniel whispered,
his voice choking on his own spit.
"No,
no,
no..."
"You traded a queen for a crown made of dirty cardboard,
Daniel,"
Emily continued coldly,
setting her coffee cup down on the small metal shelf.
"And now,"
"you get to wear that cardboard crown in a concrete cell for the next fifteen years."
"What about my mother?"
Daniel gasped,
clutching the phone receiver so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Where is she?"
Emily stood up slowly,
smoothing down the front of her cream-colored coat.
"Evelyn was evicted from her temporary rental apartment two days ago for failing to pay ninety dollars in rent,"
Emily informed him flatly.
"She is currently living in a public homeless shelter on the south side of the city,"
"scrubbing cafeteria trays for three meals a day."
"The very same woman who called me useless,"
"is now surviving on the charity of the state."
Daniel let out a horrifying,
strangled scream of pure despair,
banging his forehead repeatedly against the bulletproof glass until a small smear of red blood appeared on the surface.
"Emily!"
he screamed through the glass,
his voice muffled and frantic.
"Don't leave me!"
"EMILY!"
Emily did not look back.
She set the phone receiver down on the cradle,
turned her back on the broken man screaming behind the glass,
and walked gracefully toward the exit doors.
The heavy iron doors opened automatically as she approached,
revealing the bright,
glorious sunlight outside.
Arthur Vance was waiting beside the open door of her black limousine,
holding a silk umbrella to shield her from the afternoon breeze.
"Where to next,
Chairwoman?"
Arthur asked respectfully,
closing the door behind her as she settled into the luxurious leather interior.
Emily looked out the tinted window at the grand city skyline spreading out beneath the blue sky.
"To the main office,
Arthur,"
Emily replied smoothly,
a faint,
May you like
triumphant smile finally touching her lips.
"We have an empire to run."
