Chapter 29 - The Fall of Table One
Late that afternoon, escorted by a private security detail and accompanied by David and Frank, I returned to the grand estate on the Cumberland River—the family estate where my brother had thrown the wedding that was meant to be my execution.
The wedding tents were still standing on the vast lawn, but the opulent silk draperies were torn and flapping in the breeze. Champagne flutes lay shattered across the terrace stone, and the lavish flower arrangements had wilted in the humid afternoon air. The great banquet hall, once packed with the most powerful and ruthless figures in the city, was hollow, cold, and utterly abandoned.
I walked slowly down the center aisle, where I had once been humiliated and threatened. I stopped right at the center of the hall, where Table One still stood.
The gilded place cards were still there: *Arthur Sterling. Julian Vance. Senator Cross.*
All of them were either behind bars or fleeing the country under federal indictment.
David stood beside me, surveying the quiet room. "Feels different when the wolves are the ones running, doesn't it?"
"It feels like breathing for the first time in years," I murmured.
I picked up the place card with my brother's name on it, looked at the ornate gold calligraphy, and tore it in half, letting the pieces drift to the polished marble floor.
"We rebuild from here," I said, looking at David. "We purge every dirty contract. We pay the dockworkers and dispatchers the pensions Arthur stole from them. We turn this company back into what my father built it to be: honest, unyielding, and fair."
"Whatever you need, Sarah," David replied softly, stepping closer. "I'm not going anywhere."
For a fleeting, beautiful moment, peace enveloped us. The empire was safe. Leo was safe upstairs in the safehouse playing with his toys. The dark clouds that had hung over our lives seemed to have completely evaporated.
May you like
Then, the silence of the abandoned hall was shattered.
***
