Chapter 7 - Vanessa's Last Stand
The fallout from the engagement gala was swift and brutal. By Saturday afternoon, entertainment blogs and local columns were running wild with the story: Billionaire Richard Callaway Dumps Influencer Fiancée After Ballroom Dance-Off Won by Maid's Daughter!
Vanessa, refusing to go down quietly, launched a vicious public relations counter-offensive. She posted videos online claiming she had been "ambushed" by manipulative staff members attempting to trap a wealthy man through extortion and illicit child performances. She filed formal complaints with the estate management agency, demanding Maria and her daughter be blacklisted from every property in South Carolina.
On Monday morning, a sleek black town car pulled up to the Callaway estate gates. It wasn't Vanessa, but her high-priced divorce attorney accompanied by two estate board members, demanding an emergency review of the household staff and an immediate injunction against the disbursement of the million-dollar check.
Richard met them in the grand study, his expression like granite.
"Mr. Callaway, this is an administrative nightmare," the board representative stammered, holding up a stack of papers. "Miss Cole’s legal team is threatening a multi-million-dollar defamation suit. Allowing a domestic employee’s child to disrupt a formal function and then awarding her an unprecedented sum sets a dangerous precedent for the corporation."
"The corporation has nothing to do with my private residence, nor my personal finances," Richard replied coldly. "The check was cleared through my personal account on Saturday morning. It is legally binding and non-reversible."
"And the maid?" the attorney pressed. "Surely you're terminating her employment to mitigate further scandal?"
"No," Richard said, standing up from his mahogany desk. "Maria Delgado is not being terminated. In fact, effective immediately, she is being promoted."
The board members stared at him in stunned silence. "Promoted to what?"
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"To Estate Director of Operations," Richard said smoothly, a faint smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "She knows every inch of this house, she possesses more integrity in her little finger than Vanessa Cole had in her entire body, and frankly, she’s vastly overqualified to scrub floors."
The board members sputtered objections, but Richard cut them off with a wave of his hand. "The matter is closed. If Vanessa Cole wishes to sue me, tell her my legal team is waiting by the phone."
