Chapter 9 - The Eviction of Apex Metro
"I plant flowers, Harrison, because flowers don't pretend to be something they're not," Lissa said, walking slowly down the length of the conference table until she reached the empty leather chair at the head of the room. She did not sit. She placed her hands flat against the polished Macassar ebony and looked directly into his terrified eyes.
"For seven years, you told me we couldn't afford to fix my grandmother's greenhouse," Lissa said, her voice ringing with icy clarity through the silent boardroom. "You told me the office rent was choking your brokerage. You told me every dollar had to be pinched, while you used our joint credit to buy fifty-thousand-dollar emeralds for your mistress."
Estelle Bowman’s hand flew to her throat, her face draining of all color. She looked in horror from Harrison to Lissa, realizing with sickening speed that the man she thought was an ascending real estate mogul was nothing more than an empty, fraudulent parasite.
"Lissa..." Harrison stammered, falling forward onto his palms against the table, his knees trembling violently. "Lissa, please. It was a business misunderstanding! Apex Metro is expanding! We can talk about this at home—"
"You served me with divorce papers last night, Harrison," Lissa interrupted, pulling the white envelope from her coat pocket and tossing it onto the table. It slid across the wood, coming to rest right beside the unsigned commercial lease. "You wanted this clean. Let's make it spotless."
Arthur Pendelton stepped forward, sliding a crisp, red-tabbed legal notice in front of David Cole.
"Effective twelve o'clock today," Arthur announced, "Keystone Commercial is terminating the master occupancy license for Apex Metro Partners in Meridian Tower due to chronic unauthorized subletting and material misrepresentation of corporate solvency. You have seventy-two hours to vacate suites twenty-two hundred through twenty-four hundred."
David Cole turned on Harrison with savage fury. "You lied to me! You told me you had an inside connection to the building trust! You've ruined the entire firm!"
"And as for the Bowman Capital lease," Lissa continued, turning her attention to Richard Bowman. "Bowman Capital is welcome to lease the top three floors of Meridian Tower directly through Teague Heritage Corporation, under our standard direct terms, cutting out secondary tenant representation entirely."
Richard Bowman looked at Harrison with unvarnished disgust, then turned to Lissa and nodded firmly. "We accept those terms with gratitude, Mrs. Teague. We will execute the direct contracts with Mr. Pendelton immediately."
"Estelle!" Harrison pleaded, turning to his mistress with outstretched, shaking hands. "Estelle, tell him! We have a partnership! We're buying the Rittenhouse condo!"
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Estelle took two rapid steps backward, clutching her bag, her face contorted in humiliation and rage. She reached behind her neck, unfastened the fifty-thousand-dollar emerald necklace, and threw it onto the table where it hit Harrison’s hand with a sharp, hollow clatter.
"Don't you ever speak to me again, Harrison," Estelle spat through gritted teeth, before storming out of the boardroom in tears.
