Chapter 1 - Madam President
The first person aboard the harbor police launch was not a police officer.
It was Kira Marquez.
Chief Legal Officer for Sovereign Trust's asset recovery division.
She stepped onto the yacht in a navy suit with a waterproof case under one arm and a megaphone in the other.
Eleanor Richardson still had one hand half-raised from the shove that had nearly sent me over the side.
Charles Richardson's cigar had gone out between his fingers.
Julian finally stood from his lounge chair.
Kira looked directly at me.
“Madam President.”
Every head turned.
“The foreclosure papers are ready for your signature.”
No one laughed.
Julian took off his sunglasses.
“What did she call you?”
I looked at him.
The man I had loved for eight months suddenly looked like a stranger standing inside an expensive costume.
“My title.”
Charles recovered first.
“This is some kind of stunt.”
Kira opened the waterproof case.
“No, Mr. Richardson.”
She removed a packet thick enough to make his face change.
“Sovereign Trust acquired the senior secured debt attached to Hawthorne Leisure Holdings at 9:14 this morning.”
Charles stared.
“That loan is private.”
“Not anymore.”
Kira continued.
“Your yacht, your Hamptons summer property, three commercial parcels, and your personal guarantee are all collateral.”
Eleanor laughed too loudly.
“This is absurd.”
I looked at the wet stain on my dress.
“Three missed payments.”
“Two covenant breaches.”
“One fraudulent collateral representation.”
Charles stopped breathing.
Julian stepped toward me.
“Sienna, what is going on?”
I looked at him calmly.
“At 3:27 p.m., I authorized enforcement.”
His face went blank.
“You?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor whispered.
“You work in a coffee shop.”
“I own part of the coffee shop.”
“Through one of my funds.”
Her mouth opened.
Kira handed me a pen.
“Signature here.”
The entire deck watched.
I signed.
The first foreclosure notice became official beneath a sky full of expensive clouds.
Charles exploded.
“You can’t do this!”
I capped the pen.
“I can.”
“And I just did.”
Then a harbor officer stepped forward.
“Mr. Richardson, we also need to discuss a separate allegation involving an assault witnessed on deck.”
Eleanor looked at me.
Her eyes narrowed.
For the first time, she understood the humiliation was no longer hers to distribute.
It had entered the record.
Then Kira leaned close.
“There’s one more problem.”
“What?”
She lowered her voice.
“The yacht debt is the smallest thing we bought.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Vantage find?”
Kira glanced toward Julian.
Then back at me.
“His father pledged employee pension assets as collateral.”
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And in that moment, my revenge stopped being personal.
