Chapter 5 - The Grand Meridian’s Real Owner
Margaret Ashford dropped onto a banquet chair, her silk evening wrap slipping onto the floor as several wealthy patrons stepped away from her table.
The very women who had spent the last two hours praising her son were now whispering behind their champagne glasses, smirking at her sudden ruin.
"Evelyn... my sweet girl," Margaret whimpered, reaching out a trembling, liver-spotted hand toward my hem.
"We were only joking earlier. You know how family gets during emotional celebrations... Nathaniel was just stressed about business."
I looked down at the woman who had demanded I drop to my knees on marble just fifteen minutes ago.
"You told me I had four years to give your family a grandchild, Margaret," I said, my voice carrying across the entire banquet hall.
"Now you have all the time in the world to help Vanessa raise hers, far away from my properties."
Nathaniel collapsed against a pillar, his tie pulled loose, staring at me as if seeing me for the very first time in his life.
"Evelyn, please... we can go home. We can talk about this in private. I made a horrible mistake with Vanessa."
"You made a mistake four years ago when you decided my kindness was weakness, Nathaniel," I replied.
"And you don't have a home to go back to. The Lake Forest estate is registered under the Bennett Trust."
Samuel snapped his fingers, and four security guards moved in, flanking Nathaniel and his mother on both sides.
"Please escort Mr. Ashford, Mrs. Ashford, and Miss Caldwell off the premises immediately," Samuel commanded.
"If they refuse, contact the Cook County sheriff's department to execute an immediate trespass order."
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Nathaniel tried to resist, but the guards took his arms, dragging him down the carpeted aisle toward the exit as three hundred guests parted like the Red Sea.
His desperate pleas for a second chance echoed down the hallway until the heavy brass doors closed behind him for good.
