Tell the World, The Hidden Magnate is Back

CH 9

The elevator doors closed, and Diane turned to her friends with victory shining in her eyes like sunlight off broken glass. "Well. That was entertaining."

Mrs. Parker's expression was uncertain. "Diane, maybe you were a bit harsh—"

"Harsh?" Diane laughed and waved her hand dismissively. "That parasite needed to hear the truth, and that girl—whoever she is—needed to know what kind of man she's dealing with."

"Still." Mrs. Bennett glanced at the closed elevator doors. "You did threaten to tear his skin off."

"Figure of speech." Diane started walking toward the penthouse door with renewed purpose. "Come on. Let's not waste time on trash. We came here to see the apartment."

Mrs. Sullivan nodded slowly. "The one Ryan bought?"

"The penthouse." Diane pulled the key card from her purse and held it up so light caught the gold embossing. "Forty-three floors of luxury. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Marble everything. The kind of home my daughter actually deserves."

Her friends followed, hesitant but curious, and Mrs. Parker said carefully, "You know, I still think you shouldn't have been so confrontational—"

"They're gone now." Diane stopped at the penthouse door and gestured at it with theatrical flair. "Let's forget about them and focus on what matters. This is what success looks like."

She turned the key card between her fingers and smiled at the weight of what it represented. "Ryan insisted I shouldn't just visit—I should move in. Said he wants to take proper care of me. That's what real filial piety looks like."

"How thoughtful," Mrs. Bennett murmured.

"Your Vivian is so lucky," Mrs. Sullivan added.

"I told him it was too much." Diane placed a hand over her heart in false modesty. "I said, 'Ryan, you don't need to spend so much. My daughter isn't the type to care about wealth. Just a simple place for you two would be enough.'"

"What did he say?" Mrs. Parker asked, leaning forward.

"He said, 'Mother, I want you to live with us. You raised Vivian to be the incredible woman she is. The least I can do is take care of you properly.'" Diane delivered the line with theatrical precision, and her friends cooed on cue.

"So filial!"

"What a good man!"

"Your daughter really upgraded!"

Diane preened under their admiration. "She did, didn't she? From a parasite to a provider, from a servant to a success. It's like night and day."

She positioned herself in front of the card reader with confidence. "Now let me show you what a real man's apartment looks like."

She swiped the card. Nothing happened. The reader stayed dark—no click, no green light, nothing at all.

"Hmm." Diane frowned and swiped again with slightly more force but still nothing.

"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Bennett leaned closer.

"No, it's just—" Diane swiped a third time, harder now. "The reader must be sensitive. These high-end systems can be finicky."

Red light. Error beep.

"Maybe you're doing it wrong?" Mrs. Parker suggested gently.

"I'm not doing it wrong." Diane's voice tightened as she swiped again and again, faster and more forceful with each failed attempt. Error. Error. Error.

"Diane—" Mrs. Sullivan's voice held warning.

"It's the card!" Diane's face flushed as desperation crept into her movements. "Ryan must have given me the wrong card, or maybe it hasn't been activated yet. These things need to be programmed sometimes—"

She kept swiping frantically while the card reader beeped its rejection with each attempt. Error. Error. Error. Error.

"Maybe we should come back another time—" Mrs. Bennett backed away slowly.

"No!" Diane's voice cracked. "No, we're here now. It has to work. It has to—"

She jammed the card against the reader with force born of panic.

Something clicked, but not the door.

The hallway lights flashed red, and a siren split the air—shrill and piercing and impossibly loud—as Diane stumbled backward with her hands flying to her ears.

The alarm screamed while red lights strobed, and the sound drilled into skulls and made thought impossible.

"You triggered the security system!" Mrs. Parker shouted over the noise.

"I didn't mean to—"

"We need to leave!" Mrs. Bennett was already moving toward the elevator.

"Wait—" Mrs. Sullivan grabbed her arm. "We can't just—"

Heavy footsteps approached at a run, and four security guards rounded the corner with batons drawn and radios crackling.

"Stop right there! Hands where we can see them!"

Mrs. Bennett froze mid-step while Mrs. Parker's face went white and Mrs. Sullivan raised her hands slowly with her purse dangling from one wrist.

Diane stepped forward with her voice shaking. "This is a misunderstanding. I'm a guest. My son-in-law—Ryan Fitzgerald—he owns this apartment. He gave me the key—"

"Ma'am, step back from the door."

"You don't understand—"

"Step back. Now." The lead guard moved closer with his hand resting on his baton in a way that wasn't quite threatening yet but carried the weight of possibility.

"I'm telling you, this is my son-in-law's apartment!" Diane's voice rose to match the alarm's pitch. "Call him! He'll explain everything!"

"We'll sort this out, ma'am, but first—" The guard gestured downward. "On the ground. All of you."

The words didn't register at first, couldn't possibly register.

"On the ground?" Diane's voice went shrill with disbelief. "Are you insane? Do you know who I am? I'm a respectable woman! My daughter owns a company! She just went public! We were on the news!"

"Ma'am." The guard's voice hardened to steel. "This is not a request."

"I'm not getting on the ground like some common criminal! I demand to speak to your supervisor! I'll have your job! I'll—"

The guard raised his baton—not to strike, just to emphasize. "On. The. Ground. Now."

Mrs. Bennett was already sinking down with her hands raised and face pale as her knees hit the expensive carpet. Mrs. Sullivan followed, then Mrs. Parker, until Diane stood alone surrounded by guards with her friends on the ground around her while the alarm still screamed and red lights still flashed.

"This is a mistake." Her voice cracked. "I'm a guest. I'm supposed to be here. Ryan bought this apartment. He wants me to live here. He—"

"Ma'am." The guard stepped closer. "I will not ask again."

Diane's knees trembled as she learned what it felt like when victory turned to ash in your mouth. She looked at her friends on the ground, looking away, embarrassed for her and by her.