Chapter 16
David
The air inside the prestigious, glass-walled corridors of Vanguard, Croft it was an absolute vacuum.
Every single pair of eyes slowly turned to look at David. The Caldwell CEO looked disgusted, sliding his chair back slightly as if David had a contagious disease. The opposing counsel looked horrified. And standing in the doorway, having heard every single word, was Jerome Croft.
David opened his mouth. He desperately searched for the brilliant, charismatic legal defense that had built his career, but his mind was entirely, terrifyingly blank.
There was no defense. He was being publicly, ruthlessly butchered in his own boardroom.
His arrogant facade shattered into a million irreparable pieces on the mahogany table.
“David,” Jerome said. The managing partner’s voice was a terrifying, icy whisper that echoed in the quiet room. “Step out of this boardroom. Right now.”
It was the ultimate emasculation. The definitive, public stripping of his power.
David didn’t grab his portfolio. He didn’t look at the Caldwell CEO. He turned, his legs feeling completely numb, and walked out of the glass doors. The moment the doors clicked shut behind him, sealing him out of his own multi-million-dollar deal, his chest violently caved in.
He was ruined. His career, his ego, his entire identity as an untouchable god of the corporate world had been completely annihilated in less than three minutes.
A blinding, unhinged rage violently overtook the panic.
He tore off his silk tie as he practically ran to the private elevators. He needed an escape. He needed to feel powerful. He needed to walk into a room, strip Katherine bare, and force her to her knees so she could worship him.
Forty minutes later, David’s tires screeched against the cracked, weed-choked asphalt of the Starlight Motel on Route 9.
It was a grimy, disgusting relic of a building. The neon sign buzzed erratically, casting a sickly pink glow over the stained concrete. He parked his Audi, completely uncaring if anyone saw it, and marched toward Room 114.
He didn’t knock. He shoved his room key into the reader and violently kicked the cheap, hollow wooden door open.