The black Maybach rolled through the iron gates of the Singleton Estate on Long Island.
It was pouring rain. The sky was a bruised purple.
Celestia sat in the back seat, staring at her hands. Gideon watched the trees blur past.
"My grandmother, Victoria," Celestia said quietly. "She only cares about the bottom line. You need to prove you have value."
Gideon didn't answer.
The car stopped. The butler opened the door with a sneer. He clearly knew what had happened at the Plaza.
They walked into the main hall. It was cavernous, filled with oil paintings of dead white men.
The family was waiting.
Victoria Singleton sat in a high-backed velvet chair. She held a cane topped with a silver eagle. She looked like a queen who executed people for fun.
Around her were the vultures. Arthur, Celestia's uncle. Dianne, her mother. Preston, her cousin.
"Look what you dragged in," Arthur said. He was holding a tablet. "Davidson stock is up. Ours is down 4%. You cost us millions in an hour."
"You ruined the alliance!" Dianne wailed. She was drinking a martini at 2 PM.
"Silence," Victoria said. Her voice was dry and crackling, like burning paper.
She looked at Gideon.
"So. The apprentice."
"Gideon Combs," Gideon said.
"Where is Erich House?" Victoria asked. "We need his patents. His chemical formulas. That is the only reason we tolerated this... farce."
"He died three months ago," Gideon said.
The air left the room.
"Dead?" Arthur laughed. It was a cruel, barking sound. "So you're nobody. A stray dog with a piece of paper."
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
"No leverage," she muttered.
She looked at Celestia.
"Annul the contract," Victoria ordered. "Go to Gasper. Beg on your knees if you have to. Offer him the shipping routes."
"No," Celestia said.
"Excuse me?" Victoria leaned forward.
"He saved my life," Celestia said. "And the contract is legal. If we break it, we look weak."
"We look weak by harboring a pauper!" Arthur shouted.
Gideon stepped forward.
"Singleton Global has a cash flow problem," he said. His voice echoed in the hall. "You're overleveraged in real estate. I can fix the liquidity."
Arthur stood up. "You? You're wearing a coat from a dumpster!"
Preston, the cousin, walked up to Gideon. He was twenty-two, gym-fit, and arrogant.
"Grandma said get out," Preston said. He shoved Gideon's chest.
It was like shoving a statue. Gideon didn't move a millimeter. Preston stumbled back, off-balance.
Celestia stepped between them. "Stop it!"
Victoria slammed her cane on the floor.
"Get him out! Or you go with him, Celestia!"
Celestia looked at her grandmother. She looked at the cold, greedy faces of her family.
"Then I go," Celestia said.
