Chapter 2 - The House of Glass
The silence in the dining room was heavy, a suffocating blanket that pressed down on every single person at the table.
Elvira dropped her fork, the clatter echoing against the marble like a gunshot.
"What is he talking about, Martin?" she demanded, her voice shrill and trembling.
"Who is this woman?"
Martin didn't answer.
He couldn't.
He was staring at his phone, his screen lit up with notification after notification from his bank, the alerts appearing like a digital death toll for his entire life.
"My accounts," he whispered, his face twisted in horror.
"Everything is frozen."
The guests, once so eager to toast to his success, were now scrambling, some standing up to leave, others pointedly staring at their own plates, avoiding his gaze.
The mask of the wealthy, successful executive was falling apart in front of their eyes.
"You said you were paying for this!" one of the uncles barked, his face red with indignation.
"I’m not paying for a birthday dinner that was supposed to be hosted by the 'head of sales'!"
"I don't have the money!" Martin roared, finally losing the facade of polished charm.
"I used the company card for the deposit, and the account is closed!"
Elvira stood up, her hand shaking as she pointed a finger at the empty seat I had occupied.
"That woman," she hissed, her voice vibrating with a hatred so potent it seemed to fill the room.
"She’s been planning this all along."
"She’s been siphoning the money from the business account while I sat there and watched her play the victim!"
The restaurant manager, unmoved by the escalating drama, stood firm.
"The total is nine thousand, eight hundred dollars, sir."
"And the authorities are already in the parking lot."
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Martin slumped into his chair, his head in his hands, the gold watch on his wrist now nothing more than a ticking reminder of his imminent ruin.
He had spent years building a world on the back of someone he didn't respect, never realizing that the very person he looked down upon held the master key to his entire existence.
