Chapter 6 - The Landlord’s Ledger
The entire board of Pierce Wealth Management scrambled to their feet as I entered the room.
Arthur Pierce blinked in utter shock, looking between the photo on his tablet and the poised, elegant woman standing in his doorway.
"Mrs. Bennett..." Arthur breathed, rushing around the table with his hands outstretched.
"Please, come in. Have a seat. I was just having an internal review with Miss Pierce regarding last night’s unfortunate incident."
I ignored his hand, taking a seat at the empty chair at the foot of the table while Marcus took the chair beside me.
Lauren shrank into her chair, pulling her sunglasses down to stare at me with wild, terrified eyes.
"There was no incident, Mr. Pierce," I said smoothly, opening my leather folder with calm authority.
"There was a clear display of character. And as the majority shareholder of Lumière Holdings, I do not tolerate predatory behavior from commercial tenants under our umbrella."
Marcus placed the tablet in front of Arthur Pierce, tapping the screen to display a series of surveillance videos and financial audit trails.
"Under section fourteen of your commercial lease agreement," Marcus explained with razor-sharp precision, "any tenant whose executive representatives engage in documented harassment, assault, or public defamation against the building’s ownership entity forfeits all renewal guarantees and faces immediate lease acceleration."
"Assault?!" Arthur cried out, whirling toward his niece with pure fury in his eyes.
"You told me you accidentally spilled a beverage, Lauren! You didn't tell me you assaulted the building's landlord!"
"It was an accident!" Lauren screamed, leaping to her feet, knocking her leather binder onto the carpet.
"She set me up, Uncle Arthur! She pretended to be a waitress! She wanted to humiliate me because she's still jealous of me from high school!"
I looked at Lauren, feeling no anger, only cold, clinical certainty.
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"I didn't pretend to be anything, Lauren," I replied, my voice slicing through her hysterical shouts.
"I was helping my floor team during a record dinner rush because two of my bussers were out sick with flu. You saw a white shirt and an apron, and you assumed that gave you the right to treat another human being like dirt under your feet."
