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Chapter 388
Chapter 388:
“Thank you, sir,” June said. Her voice was perfectly steady, completely devoid of the panic Cole desperately wanted to see.
She turned her body away from him. She reached up with her good hand and calmly smoothed down the lapel of her charcoal blazer, restoring her flawless professional composure.
Then she slowly turned her head back.
She looked at Cole one last time.
Her eyes were not angry. They were not sad. They were completely, devastatingly empty — the look of someone regarding a pitiful, dying insect on the sidewalk.
“Cole,” June said. Her voice was quiet, but it carried clearly through the silent lobby. “For your own sake, and for the sake of the Compton name, try to retain at least a single shred of your dignity p>
It was not an insult. It was a genuine, condescending piece of advice from a superior.
She turned her back on him completely.
She walked toward the elevator bank, the rhythmic click of her crutch echoing against the marble floor. She pressed the button.
Cole stood paralyzed in the center of the lobby.
𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯
Her words — retain your dignity — sliced through his flesh and buried themselves directly into his bones.
It was worse than any screaming match. It was worse than a physical slap. Her absolute, freezing pity pulverized his pride into fine dust.
The metal elevator doors slid open. June stepped inside.
The doors slowly closed, cutting off his view of her straight, unyielding back.
Cole stood there. The lobby was dead silent. He could feel the eyes of the security guards and the residents burning into his skin.
Then, a low, dark sound rumbled in the back of his throat.
He started to laugh.
It began as a quiet chuckle, then escalated rapidly into a harsh, completely unhinged sound. He stared at the closed elevator doors, his eyes burning with a manic, terrifying fire.
“Dignity?” Cole whispered to himself, his voice dripping with concentrated venom. “I will show you exactly what it means to have no dignity, June. I am going to take every single thing you care about, and I am going to burn it to the ground p>
He spun on his heel and stormed out of the lobby like a violent hurricane.
He threw himself into the back seat of the Maybach.
“Drive!” Cole roared at the driver, kicking the back of the passenger seat. “Get me to the office! Now p>
The Maybach’s tires shrieked against the wet pavement as the massive car launched itself into the morning traffic.
Inside that car, a catastrophic, billion-dollar commercial war was being born from the ashes of a man’s shattered ego.
Exactly one minute after the Maybach disappeared around the corner, a sleek, understated black Audi A8 pulled up smoothly to the curb outside the apartment building.
The engine purred quietly. The driver’s side door opened.
Easton Hahn stepped out onto the sidewalk.
He was wearing a perfectly tailored navy blue business casual suit. He did not look rushed. He did not look frantic.