Chapter 7 - The Unraveling
"Olivia, sweetheart, listen to me, it’s a setup!" David pleaded, his dignity dissolving as he reached out to grab her lace-covered arm. "She’s doing this out of jealousy! She couldn't handle seeing me win! We can fix this! Your father has the liquid reserves to cover the default—" "Don't touch me!" Olivia shrieked, ripping her arm from his grasp with such force that a seam on her sleeve tore open. She turned to her father, whose face had drained of all color as he frantically dialed his chief risk officer on his mobile phone. "Dad, tell me you didn't co-sign that institutional bond." Richard dropped his phone to his side, his blank stare confirming the worst. The wedding guests, realizing that the entire event had transformed from a high-society union into a multi-million-dollar corporate execution, began whispering loudly, some even quietly slipping toward their cars to avoid being associated with the fallout. The photographers, hired to document David's triumph, were furiously snapping photos of his red, sweat-streaked face as he fell to his knees on the marble stairs, begging Olivia not to walk away. "David," Emily said, her tone devoid of malice, carrying only the cold, unyielding weight of justice. "You thought my life ended the day you locked me out of our apartment with two garbage bags of old clothes. You thought a woman who gave you everything was weak simply because she chose to be kind. But kindness isn't weakness. It's patience."
