Ethan looked at me, a desperate, pleading smile suddenly appearing on his face. He took a step toward me, reaching out a hand. “Ava, babe, come on. Let’s talk about this privately. My parents… they can be old-fashioned, sure, but they didn’t mean anything by it. We’re a team, remember? You can’t let them do this to my family.”
“Your family stood by while your mother pushed me,” I said, my voice completely steady. “You stood by while she tried to humiliate me. You told me to go downstairs because I was upsetting her, after she nearly knocked me into the ocean. You didn’t care about being a team until you realized who held the playbook.”
“Ava, please,” he whispered, his confidence completely evaporating.
“Mr. Vance,” I said, turning away from Ethan. “Please ensure the Sterlings are given exactly fifteen minutes. Not a second more. I’ll be taking the security vessel back to the mainland.”
“Right away, Ms. Carter,” Mr. Vance replied.
As I walked toward the boarding ramp to transfer to the sleek black security boat, I paused beside Eleanor. She was trembling, looking at her ruined, expensive party as the guests began whispering and hurriedly gathering their coats, eager to distance themselves from the sudden social ruin of the Sterling family.
“The dress you ruined cost about fifty dollars,” I told her quietly, looking down at the damp stain on my skirt. “But the bank you owe costs a hundred million. I’d say we’re even on the property damage, but you still owe me for the coffee.”
Without waiting for a response, I stepped across the railing onto the waiting security vessel. The engines roared to life, generating a powerful wake that rocked the yacht behind us. I didn’t look back as the shoreline began to grow closer, leaving the Sterlings to figure out exactly how they were going to survive in a world where they no longer owned the room.
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