Page 115 of Til Death
Again she went into her briefcase and pulled out papers, pushing them across the table. “As you can see, that’s the account information, printed today. The card in question is displayed as well, showing the total balance and active status.”
Phillip scanned the paper. “And all I have to do is sign and this is mine?” His eyes shot up to me.
“That’s it,” I agreed.
“Fine, give me the papers. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough for me to get out of town and start over.”
I watched as Phillipfoolishlysnatched the papers from Gloria and signed the areas Gloria read off.
“Here.” He tossed the papers back to our side. “Give me the card.”
Picking up my phone, I sent another text. I held my hand out and Gloria handed me the bank card. “You know Phillip, for a businessman, you should know the number one rule of business is to never sign anything without looking it over first.”
His face balled up. “What are you talking about?”
Just then, the door opened again. This time David, Phillip’s old business partner, walked in along with his lawyer. His eyes burned with hatred and instantly shot to Phillip, who looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“What the hell is this? What is he doing here?”
David silently took a seat at the end of the table. Phillip was lucky looks couldn’t kill or he’d be a dead man.
“You know what comes with being a shitty person and an even shittier businessman? Enemies. And you, Phillip, have made your fair share of them.”
“There are no friends in business. If you want to make it to the top, then you have to step on those in your way.”
“You fucker! You stole everything from me! If I didn’t have other investments lined up me and my family would be fucked!” David bellowed.
Phillip gave him a bored look. “Are you done? If you would have gotten on board with things, then you wouldn’t have those issues.”
“And end up on the run like you? No thank you.”
“Sometimes sacrifices need to be made. Only thing I did wrong was not tying up loose ends properly.” Phillip faced me. “Enough of this, hand me the card so I can get out of here!”
I shook my head. “Tsk, tsk.” It was clear Phillip was used to having people by the balls. His arrogant attitude was still in full force, but little did he know, I was about to humble him and smile while doing it.
I grabbed one of the forms Gloria had placed on the table in front of me during the ex-partners exchange.
“Insurance fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, money laundering, bribery, blackmail, contempt of court, jumping bail.” I paused and whistled. “Along with enemies, you’ve racked up quite the amount of charges, Phillip.”
“What’s your point?”
“The point is you don’t seem to realize the position you’re in. Your money hunger hurt a lot of people and you have no remorse. You don’t even care that your daughter was left penniless because of you.”
The way he glared at his daughter made my hand clench. “She looks to be surviving fine to me. Plus she’s married to you. If she’s anything like her whore of a mother, she’ll be fine.”
Seeing Xylina slightly flinch at his words was the nail in the coffin for me. “Let’s wrap this up, shall we.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time! I signed the contract; now give me the card!” He held his hand out.
“One last thing and then we’re finished.”
He released a long, dragged out breath. “Gloria.”
Pulling out more papers, she passed them around the table, making sure everyone received one. I waited as everyone looked them over to gauge their reactions.
Phillip was the first to answer, this time taking time to read them. “What the hell is this!”
“That, Phillip, is what they call a checkmate in chess.” A mocking grin formed on my face. “From the moment you came into my dad’s office throwing your weight around and forcing contracts on people, I promised myself I’d do whatever I needed to take you down. Businessmen like you always have skeletons in their closet and my skills gave me the perfect opportunity to find them.”
