Chapter 3
Before Meredith could dial the number she had prepped on her screen, Judith lunged forward with surprising speed. Her manicured hands snatched the smartphone right out of Meredith's grip.
"You won't be calling your little lawyers, you pathetic gold-digger," Judith hissed.
With a violent swing of her arm, Judith hurled the phone onto the hard marble floor. The sharp, cracking sound of shattering glass echoed through the grand foyer. Judith stepped back, a deeply satisfied smirk playing across her wrinkled, elegant face.
Meredith slowly looked down at the ruined device. The screen was a web of fractured glass, the black case scuffed.
"It's over, Meredith," Ethan said, his tone mocking. "Walk away."
Then, a faint, tinny sound cut through the tense silence.
"Meredith? Can you hear me?"
It was a deep, composed, authoritative American voice coming from the surviving speaker of the damaged phone. Graham Holt.
Judith’s smug expression faltered. Ethan frowned, looking down at the device. Up on the balcony, Vanessa stopped laughing and leaned forward, straining to hear.
May you like
Slowly, gracefully, Meredith bent down. The thigh-high slit of her white gown parted as she retrieved the cracked phone. She didn't brush off the dust. She simply raised it toward her lips, her eyes rising to meet Ethan’s confused gaze.
"Graham," Meredith said, her voice cold, commanding, and absolute. "We replace the CEO today."
