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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