CHAPTER 3 – WHEN THE KINGDOM COLLAPSED
The first movers entered within fifteen minutes.
Each carried official inventories.
Each item inside the mansion already had an identification number.
The paintings came down first.
Then the antique furniture.
The crystal chandeliers.
Even the grand piano.
Adrian's mother finally exploded.
"You can't do this!"
Margaret calmly handed her another document.
"We already have."
Across the dining room, electricians disconnected the home's security system.
The internet shut off.
The televisions went dark.
Outside, luxury cars were loaded onto transport trucks.
Bank notifications flooded Adrian's phone.
ACCOUNT FROZEN.
ACCOUNT CLOSED.
LOAN REVOKED.
MARGIN CALL.
His hands began shaking.
"My company..."
Margaret answered before he could finish.
"Your company depended on Blackwood financing."
"The bank has already begun foreclosure proceedings."
His father grabbed my arm.
"Please..."
"You don't understand."
"We'll lose everything."
I slowly removed his hand.
"No."
"You lost everything the moment your son raised his hand against his wife."
Mara burst into tears.
"It was only one slap!"
I looked directly into her eyes.
"You celebrated it."
She lowered her head.
For the first time in years...
No one defended her.
Late that afternoon, another black sedan arrived.
An elderly gentleman stepped out using a cane.
Adrian froze.
"Grandfather?"
Eighty-four-year-old Henry Blake had been living overseas for years.
No one expected him.
He slowly walked into the ruined dining room.
He looked at the empty walls.
The missing furniture.
The frightened faces.
Then he turned toward Adrian.
"Did you strike your wife?"
Adrian swallowed.
"...Yes."
Henry closed his eyes.
Then...
He slapped Adrian across the face.
Hard.
"No Blake man was ever raised to hit a woman."
"You have shamed generations of our family."
He turned toward me.
With tears filling his eyes...
He bowed.
"I cannot undo what my grandson has done."
May you like
"But I ask forgiveness."
The room fell completely silent.
