Chapter 4 - The Badge and the Bracelet
The flashing blue and red emergency lights painted the exterior of the rental chalet in stark, rhythmic flashes as my mother was escorted out the front door, her designer white fox fur dragging ignominiously through the dirty slush on the walkway. Senator Sterling was already on his phone in the corner of the dining room, aggressively canceling his son’s upcoming wedding engagement while his wife packed their bags with trembling hands.
My phone buzzed on the teak desk in my home office.
It was an incoming video call from Brittany.
I accepted the call, letting my calm, unbothered face fill her screen. Behind her, the rental chalet was in absolute chaos: furniture knocked over, half-eaten appetizers left on plates, and Pierre the bulldog whimpering in a corner.
“Brianna!” Brittany screamed the moment my face appeared, her mascara smeared, her hair flying wildly around her face. “Mom is being arrested! The police—federal agents, they took her away in handcuffs! They said she used your military credit card to buy watches! How do you have a military credit card?! What is happening?!”
I took a slow, relaxed sip of my Cabernet, letting the silence stretch for a agonizing three seconds before speaking.
“It’s not a military credit card, Brittany,” I said softly, my voice level and icy. “It’s a classified Department of Defense procurement card. And as the commanding officer overseeing that logistics infrastructure, authorized use is strictly limited to federal operations. Unauthorized use constitutes a federal felony.”
Brittany stared at me through the screen as if she were looking at a ghost. The reality of who I was—and how deeply she had underestimated me—was finally breaking through her pampered, self-absorbed worldview.
“You... you set her up,” Brittany whispered, her voice cracking. “You let her use the card on purpose.”
“I didn't force her to pick the lock on my fireproof box,” I replied, my tone sharpening. “I didn't force her to steal my property, walk into a luxury boutique, and commit grand larceny under her own name. She did that all by herself, fueled by the exact same greed and arrogance that made you text me yesterday and tell me my presence ruined your aesthetic.”
“Please, Brianna—please!” Brittany begged, her tough exterior completely shattering as she realized her high-society wedding and social standing had evaporated in less than an hour. “You have influence with these people! Tell them it was a misunderstanding! Fix this! We’re your family!”
“My family,” I said firmly, “is currently sitting in my dining room upstairs, laughing, eating Michelin-starred food, and celebrating the holidays together. People who actually love me for who I am, not what I can buy them.”
Before she could scream another plea, I tapped the screen and hung up, severing the connection permanently.
I locked my phone, stood up from my desk, and walked out of my office to rejoin my guests. As I stepped into the grand ballroom, the string quartet struck up a gentle melody, and Aunt Susan caught my eye, raising her glass to me with a proud, loving smile.
May you like
My mother wanted an exclusive Aspen aesthetic. She wanted high society, powerful connections, and a lifestyle built on exploiting everyone around her. Instead, she got a pair of steel bracelets, a federal indictment, and a front-row seat to her own total destruction.
And the funniest part? The federal agents who hauled her away didn't even need to ask for directions to my house. They already knew my name, my rank, and my address very well.
