Chapter 9 - The Final Collapse
Two months after the wedding, the final fallout of that evening became public.
It turned out that the young woman who had left her engagement ring on the bread plate at Table One was the daughter of the primary lender for Vance Enterprises’ new commercial development project. Following her quiet exit from Chad’s life, her father’s firm conducted a thorough review of the loan terms and decided not to renew the line of credit for the spring quarter.
Without that credit line, Chad’s firm was forced to sell two of their primary real estate properties at a significant loss to cover their debts.
Nadine’s social calendar cleared out almost entirely. The charity boards she had dominated for two decades began quietly replacing her with younger, less controversial members, eager to avoid any connection to a family whose financial stability was tumbling down a steep hill.
I learned all of this not through local gossip, but through a small news item in the business section of the local Sunday paper while sitting in our sunroom.
"What are you reading?" Elliot asked, walking into the room with a plate of fresh croissants he had picked up from the bakery down the road.
I folded the paper and set it aside. "Just the local news. It looks like the Vance family is selling their summer estate in Bay Harbor."
Elliot paused, setting the plate down on the coffee table. He looked at me, searching my eyes for any trace of regret, lingering anger, or sadness.
May you like
"Does it bother you?" he asked softly.
"No," I said, reaching up to wrap my arm around his neck as he leaned down to kiss me. "It feels like reading a story about people I used to know in another lifetime."
