Chapter 5 - Champagne in Aspen
Two thousand miles away, the private Gulfstream sliced through the crisp mountain air, touching down smoothly on the cleared tarmac of Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.
Derek Harper stepped into the cabin aisle, stretching his broad shoulders. He had shed his charcoal overcoat, wearing an expensive cashmere sweater that made his silver-streaked dark hair look impeccably distinguished. In his left hand, he held a glass of champagne.
Opposite him, Alexis Warren lounged across an ivory leather recliner, wearing a white shearling jacket over designer leggings, her diamond earrings catching the cabin lights. She was sipping her drink with a triumphant smile, her polished boots resting carelessly on Derek’s leather overnight bag.
“Did you check your phone?” Alexis asked, swirling her champagne. “Did the saintly mother of the year send you five dozen frantic texts about Aubrey’s Christmas morning?”
Derek offered a cool, disdainful smirk. “Hannah doesn't text frantically. She sits in that cemetery of a house, reads her father’s useless books, and waits like an obedient dog. She thinks I’m meeting Ethan in a freezing warehouse in Harrisburg right now.”
Alexis laughed, a sharp, ringing sound that grated on the flight attendant standing near the galley. “God, she is so pathetic. Eleven years, Derek. How did you stand sleeping next to that walking ice sculpture? She’s so boring she probably thinks missionary is an extreme sport.”
Derek took a slow sip of his champagne, staring out the window at the snow-capped Rockies illuminated under the moonlight. There had been a time, long ago, when he had loved Hannah Graham. But love in Derek’s world was a transaction, and once he realized Julian Graham had tied up the real ownership of the empire in an unbreakable generational blood trust that Derek could never outright claim, his love had hardened into resentment.
Hannah wasn't a partner to him anymore; she was a lockbox holding ninety million dollars that belonged to him by right of ambition.
“Hannah served her purpose,” Derek said coldly, setting his glass on the tray. “She gave me the Graham name. She gave me social respectability in Buffalo and access to the Canadian rail permits. But after next month, when the boy is born and the medical power of attorney takes effect, we won't need to play the happy suburban family anymore. She can keep that dreary stone fortress on Lake Erie. We’ll be in St. Moritz before she even finishes her postpartum checkup.”
“To St. Moritz,” Alexis toasted, clinking her glass against his.
Derek stepped down the airstair onto the tarmac, the crisp Rocky Mountain air biting his face. Waiting on the ramp was a chauffeured black Cadillac Escalade, pre-booked to take them to the ultra-exclusive private chalet Derek had rented for eighty thousand dollars for the holiday week.
The chauffeur hurried forward, taking their luggage. Derek reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his Harper Freight corporate black card to cover the landing fees and private hangar gratuities.
He handed the heavy metal card to the signature attendant inside the private terminal.
“Charge the fuel, de-icing, and overnight ramp fees to this account,” Derek instructed with an authoritative bark.
The attendant swiped the card through the terminal. A dull, high-pitched error tone beeped.
The young clerk frowned, swiping it again.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Harper,” the clerk said, looking up nervously. “The card is returning a Code 99.”
Derek’s brow furrowed. “Code 99? Swipe it again. That card has an unlimited corporate line backed by Graham Logistics.”
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The clerk ran it a third time. The machine beeped aggressively.
“Sir, Code 99 means the account has not merely been declined. It has been flagged by the issuing bank as a revoked corporate instrument due to emergency fiduciary suspension. The card has been cancelled by the primary administrator.”
