the manicured path leading back to her gilded cage. Every muscle fiber screamed, a s
t, a woman with a starched uniform and a per
past Eliza's shoulder. "Mrs. Beatrice Malone requests your presen
e politeness of a request, bu
ed down at her sweat-soaked, modifie
the servant repeated, her vo
hirty-second shower, the water barely washing away the grime. She'd pulled on the only formal thing she ow
ke on. A massive crystal chandelier dripped
sture rigid. Harrison was at her right, swirling a glas
phone held just below the table's edge, the tiny r
n front of her sat a single plate. On it was a small pile of limp lettuce wi
latters of roasted chicken, potatoes dauphinoise, and stea
ook at the food. She didn't look at them.
d fork down with a sharp cli
sgrace. Even after all that running, the cheap fabric is straining at th
a sound like a rat c
ting the insults wash over her. It was data. An assessment o
her lack of reaction. She
her tone shifting to one of cold, corporate final
ine, the fifty thousand dollars that represented a
eatrice continued, a cruel smile playing on her lips, "I have had my bank manager tak
a punch. The air left her lungs
dith added, her voice smug. "Consider it a cl
but steady. "That money is a gift.
rrespondence across the polished table. It stopped a few inches from Eliza's plate. "This is a formal notic
of his whiskey. His silence was his signatur
r a moment, trembled. The Eliza part of her was terrified.
yx too
a supercomputer built for analysis, processed the information, cross-referencing banking regulations, identif
of Funds
ly effective one to trigger a temporary hold. It
igning it perfectly with the edge. Her hands
een before. The fear was gone. The submission was gone. What looked ba
her voice low and clear, cutting throug
n her demeanor that she was speechless for
g her palms on the table and rising t
hing!" she spat, lunging across the table to jab a finger into Eliza's sh
a mo
ht. She leaned away from the jabbing finger, her own hand coming up, not
he phone slipped from her grasp, clattering onto
d, merely applying pressure to a specific nerve cluste
th wailed, her face pa
ttened themselves against the walls. Harriso
hen, with a smooth, dismissive motion, she released Meredith's wrist
e the room. She looked down the long table at Be
going to make me bend?" Eliza as
covering her voice. "You can't even affo
lent room, the half-eaten feast, the crystal, th
the door, her back straight,
he paused, but di
" she said, the words hanging i
hock and fury behind her. The sound of a crystal glass s
ace as she stepped outside. A s
r had
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