Chapter 2: The Black Sedans
The five black sedans rolled to a stop along the circular drive in perfect formation. Doors opened almost simultaneously. Men and women in dark, understated suits stepped out, each carrying the quiet authority of people who did not need to raise their voices to be obeyed. Two of them walked directly toward the terrace. The others moved with practiced efficiency toward the estate’s side entrances and the temporary financial office the Sterlings had set up for wedding-related transfers and gifts.
Olivia recovered first.
“Who do you think you are?” she demanded, diamonds flashing as she pointed at me. “This is private property. You can’t just—”
One of the newcomers, a silver-haired woman with a calm expression and a tablet in her hand, stopped a polite distance from Olivia.
“Mrs. Sterling,” she said evenly, “we are here under lawful instruction regarding pending financial instruments, board notifications, and preservation of records. We will not be leaving until those instructions are carried out.”
Ethan’s face had gone the color of the marble under our feet. He took a step toward me, then stopped when another of the suited figures positioned himself unobtrusively between us.
I ignored both of them and walked to where my parents stood, still dripping, wrapped in tablecloths the waiters had hastily provided. My mother’s eyes searched my face with a mixture of shock and worry. My father’s hand rested protectively on her shoulder.
“Clara,” he said quietly, “what did you just do?”
“What I should have done the first time she insulted you,” I answered. “I stopped pretending.”
Around us the guests had fallen into a charged, uncertain silence. Phones that had been recording the pool incident were now turned toward the sedans and the strangers who had taken control of the perimeter without raising a single voice. The spectacle Olivia had created for her own amusement had been replaced by something far larger, and no one yet understood the shape of it.
May you like
I took my mother’s cold hand.
“We’re leaving,” I told her. “There’s nothing left for us here.”
