Something inside me broke, but it wasn’t defeat. It was clarity. I see, I said quietly. That’s when we all heard it.
The helicopter. At first, it was just a distant sound. Then it got louder, louder.
The entire building started to vibrate slightly. Everyone looked up. confused.
The chandeliers swayed, glasses on tables rattled. “What on earth?” Clarissa said, annoyed at the interruption of my humiliation. The sound was deafening now.
Through the ballroom’s high windows, we could see lights. A helicopter was landing on the hotel’s rooftop helipad.
The crowd murmured with confusion and curiosity, “Who would arrive by helicopter?” The live stream viewer count hit a 100,000. Then the ballroom doors opened. My father walked in.
William Harrison, 6’3, silver hair, commanding presence, wearing a suit that cost more than most people’s cars. Behind him, four bodyguards in black.