Chapter 69

No.1

The gears of the financial war had already begun to turn. While waiting for the first round of data feedback from Alastair's team, Elisa knew she had one final, physical tie to sever. After a sleepless night at the temporary apartment, she returned to the cold Manhattan penthouse one last time the next morning to retrieve her remaining personal items.

The morning sun pierced through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Elisa stood in the center of the massive master walk-in closet. Two large, black hard-shell suitcases sat fully zipped by the door. She had spent the last hour methodically packing the final remnants of her life. She was leaving this sterile, cold museum of a home forever.

Suddenly, the heavy front door of the penthouse was thrown open.

A chaotic flurry of footsteps and loud, imperious voices echoed through the marble foyer.

Elisa frowned. She walked out of the closet and

stepped into the massive living area.

Germaine Chambers was standing in the center of the room, leaning heavily on her silver-handled cane.Behind her stood two of her personal security guards and August.

No.2

August looked exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot,his jaw tight with barely suppressed rage. He looked like a man who had been awake all night fighting a losing battle.

Germaine spotted Elisa. The old woman's eyes narrowed into sharp slits.

"I see you haven't left yet," Germaine barked,her voice echoing harshly off the glass walls. "The market opened twenty minutes ago. The Chambers Group stock took another massive hit. The board is panicking over the Page Six scandal. Your continued presence in this city is a liability."

Germaine pointed her cane directly at Elisa.

"The agreement was that you would disappear.Quietly. Immediately," Germaine ordered. "My men are here to escort you to JFK. There is a one-way ticket to Zurich waiting for you at the private

terminal. You will get on that plane, and you will not return."

Elisa stared at the old woman. A cold, incredulous laugh bubbled up in her chest.

No.3

Less than twelve hours ago, this woman had threatened an old man's life to force her to sign a gag order. Now, she was breaking into her home with armed guards to forcibly exile her.

Elisa crossed her arms over her chest. She leaned casually against the doorframe of the guest room.

"Are you developing dementia, Germaine?" Elisa asked, her voice dripping with absolute, freezing mockery. "I signed your NDA. I am legally a ghost.I haven't spoken to a soul. Your stock problem is your own.I will leave when I am ready."

Germaine's face flushed with anger. She slammed her cane against the marble floor.

"You took fifty million dollars of my money!"Germaine snapped. "You will leave on my timeline!You are a stain that must be scrubbed out now!"

August ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He

looked at Elisa, his expression a mix of humiliation and desperate command.

No.4

"Just go, Elisa," August gritted out, his voice tight. "It will take five minutes. Allena is having a complete meltdown at her apartment because people are calling her a mistress online. If you just disappear, it calms the board down, and it takes the heat off her."

Elisa looked at him. The sheer, astronomical audacity of his request was staggering. He was asking his abused wife to flee the country to protect his mistress's feelings.

"Grab your bags. Now," Germaine commanded,gesturing to her guards. One of the large men took a step forward, his hand reaching for Elisa's arm.

The moment his body moved into her personal space,it hit her.

A thick, suffocating wave of bespoke, heavy rose perfume wafted off August's suit jacket from where he stood nearby. It was Allena's signature scent. It was baked into the fabric of his clothes. He had come straight from Allena's bed to watch her be exiled.

A violent, uncontrollable spasm of physiological revulsion ripped through Elisa's stomach.②

The smell was the physical manifestation of every lie,every betrayal, every ounce of abuse she had suffered. Her throat closed up. The acid in her stomach violently surged upward.

No.5

She couldn't breathe. She was going to vomit.

Smack!

The sound was as loud as a gunshot in the quiet penthouse.

Elisa's hand shot up with blinding, desperate speed.She violently, viciously slapped the guard's approaching hand away from her. The force was so unexpected it made the large man stumble back a step.

August, completely caught off guard by the explosive physical violence, instinctively moved to intervene,his hand clamping down on her shoulder to restrain her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" August roared,his voice shaking the windows.

Elisa shot up from her leaning position. She stumbled back two steps, her hand pressing hard against her stomach as she wrenched herself out of his grip. She looked at her own shoulder where his hand had rested, brushing at the fabric in frantic, disgusted motions, as if trying to wipe away a flesh-eating virus.

No.6

She looked up at August. Her black eyes were wide,filled not with anger, but with pure, unadulterated physical sickness.

"You smell like her," Elisa choked out, her voice trembling with disgust. "You reek of her perfume.Don't you ever touch me again. You make me want to vomit."

The words hung in the air, a brutal, undeniable execution of his ego.

Germaine's face turned purple. "You ungrateful,psychotic bitch!"

Elisa didn't look at the old woman. She kept her eyes locked on August's shocked face.

"You have my signature," Elisa whispered coldly. "But you will never have my obedience. Get out of my

way."

No.7

Elisa turned and walked quickly back into the walk-in closet. She slammed the heavy door shut, twisting the deadbolt with a loud, final click, leaving the billionaire and his mother standing in the wreckage of their own humiliation.