Chapter 2 - The Sound of Shattering Glass
Andrew slammed his hands against the tinted glass of my SUV, his face twisted in a mixture of panic and disbelief. His mouth was moving frantically, shouting my name, pleading with me to roll down the window.
I didn’t blink. I didn’t flinch. I simply shifted the car into drive.
"Mom?" Ethan asked from the backseat, his voice trembling slightly. He still held the half-eaten cinnamon roll, oblivious to the fact that his childhood was currently being rewritten. "Why is Dad running? Why does he look mad?"
I glanced at my husband one last time through the rearview mirror. He was standing in the middle of the street, the crisp, commanding aura of a Naval Commander entirely stripped away, leaving behind a frantic, desperate man who had just realized the floor beneath him had collapsed.
"Dad just got some very complicated news at work, sweetie," I said, my voice steady, projecting a calm I had spent a lifetime perfecting. "We're going to go to Uncle Marcus's house for a little while so Dad can figure it out."
By the time I merged onto the I-5 North, my phone was ringing again. It was Andrew. Then it was Andrew’s commanding officer. Then it was Serena Vale. I turned the phone off and tossed it into the passenger seat.
When we arrived at Marcus’s estate in La Jolla, the gates swung open immediately. My brother was already standing in the driveway, flanked by two of his personal security personnel and his lead corporate attorney, David Vance. Marcus didn’t do things halfway. When the Langford family closed ranks, it was a fortress.
"Take Ethan to the media room," Marcus instructed his assistant as we stepped out of the car. "Put on the new Marvel movie. Order whatever pizza he wants."
Once Ethan was safely out of earshot, Marcus turned to me, his jaw set in stone. "The foundation's board convened an emergency meeting twenty minutes ago. We’ve pulled every string. Andrew’s housing allowance is frozen pending a 'clerical review.' Serena’s company is currently locked out of the naval procurement database due to a 'sudden audit.' They have absolutely nothing."
"Good," I said, walking into the grand foyer and finally allowing myself to take a deep, trembling breath.
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"He thought it was him," Marcus said, shaking his head with a cold, hollow laugh. "All these years, Andrew actually believed his charm and his mediocre service record were securing those defense contracts and fast-tracking his promotions. He had no idea our family's money was the invisible hand moving him up the board."
"He knows now," I replied, pulling my coat tighter around myself. "And Serena is about to find out that sleeping with a Commander doesn't pay the bills when his wife is the one signing the checks."
