Chapter 201
[ 482 words ]
Chapter 201:
Augustus looked down at her with absolute disgust. He kicked his leg back, ripping the fabric from her grip.
“Remove her,” Augustus commanded.
Finch raised a hand. Two massive security guards stepped into the study, grabbed Harper by the arms, hauled her off the floor, and dragged her screaming out of the room.
Cornelia stood frozen. Her fingernails dug so deeply into her palms they almost broke the skin. She didn’t dare speak a single word of protest.
Augustus turned his cold eyes to Cornelia.
“Control your daughter,” Augustus warned, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “Because if this happens again, she won’t be the only one thrown onto the street.”
Cornelia swallowed the bile rising in her throat and bowed her head in absolute humiliation. “Yes, Augustus.”
She turned and walked out of the study. As she stepped into the hallway, the fear in her eyes vanished, replaced by a toxic, burning inferno of pure hatred.
Sunday morning.
T𝘩e 𝘮o𝘴𝘵 𝗉𝗼𝘱𝗎𝗅a𝗋 𝘯𝘰v𝖾l𝘀 оո 𝗴𝗮𝘭𝗇o𝗏𝘦𝗹s.𝖼𝗈m
Harper’s luxurious bedroom suite looked like a war zone.
Shattered glass covered the floor. She had thrown thousands of dollars’ worth of imported perfumes and cosmetics against the wall. The air in the room was thick and suffocating with the clashing scents of jasmine and heavy musk.
Harper sat on the edge of her massive bed, her hair a tangled mess, staring at the glowing screen of her phone.
The text message from Coutts Bank was burned into her retinas: Transaction Declined. Account Frozen.
She was completely broke. The General had actually done it. He had severed her financial lifeline.
A timid knock sounded at the door. Her personal maid, Tammy-Lynn, stood in the hallway holding a silver breakfast tray. The girl was trembling, terrified to step over the threshold.
Harper raised her head. Her eyes were bloodshot and wild. She grabbed a heavy velvet throw pillow and hurled it violently at the door.
“Get out!” Harper shrieked. “Leave me alone!”
Tammy-Lynn slammed the door shut and ran.
Harper fell back onto the mattress, her chest heaving. The humiliation of being dragged out of the study, the stinging pain of her mother’s slap, and the terror of losing her money combined into a toxic, psychological poison.
Her mind desperately needed a scapegoat. She couldn’t blame the General; he was untouchable. She couldn’t blame her mother.
In her twisted, arrogant logic, all the blame funneled directly toward one person: Caroline Thompson.
If that pathetic nurse hadn’t seduced Jarrod, the background report would never exist. Harper wouldn’t have tried to steal it. She wouldn’t be locked in this room like a prisoner.
Harper bit down on her lower lip so hard she tasted the sharp, metallic tang of blood. She was going to destroy Caroline. She didn’t have money, but she still had the Romero name. She still had power.
She walked into her bathroom and stared at her swollen cheek in the mirror. She grabbed a thick concealer wand and aggressively painted over the dark bruise her mother had left.
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