Chapter 6 - The True Price of Greed
Lorraine sank to the floor, her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. The realization that the destitute girl she had mocked and degraded eight years ago now held the legal power to evict her onto the snowy street was too much for her fragile pride to bear.
""You... you bought my mortgage?"" Lorraine wept. ""You're going to throw me out on Christmas?""
""I am not a monster like you, Lorraine,"" I replied with absolute calm. ""I have no desire to make an old woman homeless. But your monthly payments will now go directly to a trust fund established for Mason, Wyatt, Delilah, and Savannah. Every cent of interest you pay for the next twenty years will fund the college education of the grandchildren you told to die in an incubator.""
Terrence looked completely hollowed out. His hands shook as he wiped cold sweat from his neck. ""Keahu... please. We were married once. We loved each other. Doesn't that count for anything? You have so much... billions! What do you want from me?""
""I wanted you to look into the eyes of what you threw away,"" I said quietly. ""I wanted you to understand that while you spent eight years chasing fake status, lying to heiresses, and living a fraudulent existence, the woman you abandoned built an empire with two hands and four babies in her arms. You thought you were breaking me, Terrence. You didn't break me. You forged me.""
The children stood proudly beside me, their heads held high. They didn't look at Terrence with anger; they looked at him with absolute indifference. And to a narcissist like Terrence, indifference is a thousand times more painful than hatred.
""Goodbye, Terrence,"" I said, stepping backward through the doorway onto the snow-dusted porch. ""Enjoy your Christmas dinner.""
We walked down the stone path toward the waiting helicopter, where the pilot had already initiated the startup sequence. The powerful rotors began to spin, whipping the powdered snow into a sparkling silver vortex around us.
Behind us, Terrence ran out onto the lawn, ignoring the freezing cold in his suit. ""Keahu! Don't leave! Let me at least talk to them! Just five minutes! Please!""
The noise of the turbine drowned out his pathetic cries.
The flight attendant helped the children climb into the heated, leather-lined cabin. I stepped in last, securing my seatbelt as the heavy door slammed shut and sealed with a pressurized click.
Through the double-paned window, I looked down.
Terrence was on his knees in the deep snow, pounding his fists against the frozen grass, screaming soundless words into the sky as our helicopter lifted gracefully into the crisp Utah air.
Inside the cabin, Delilah leaned her head against my shoulder. ""Mommy, are we going back to Phoenix now?""
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""Not yet, my love,"" I smiled, brushing a curl from her forehead. ""I have a surprise for you. We're flying to Aspen. Grandma and Grandpa Rivera are waiting for us at the ski lodge with hot chocolate and mountains of presents.""
The cabin erupted into cheers and laughter.
