“But that’s not all,” Cenobia says, leaning into the camera and smiling. I want to reach through the screen and strangle her. “I was able to obtain exclusive footage only an hour ago that shows Vivian Kawabata in a clandestine rendezvous with her ex-boyfriend, Ken Mata, CEO of Flyght.”
My whole body numbs, and my vision recedes. When I turn my head to look at Marcelo, the room tips. Marcelo’s face is grim. If he hadn’t already fired me after the way I yelled at him this morning, he certainly will now.
The video that fills the screen makes me gasp. Whoever took it knew what they were doing. The angle is perfect, just peeking over the edge of the balcony railing, and both Ken and I are in frame, sitting in the chairs and talking. I never saw the camera there, but it’s not like I would. They’re so small nowadays, and it was dark. I stupidly thought we were in a private space.
I won’t make that mistake again.
“Tomu took the money and ran.”
“What?… Sorry.” He grabbed my wine glass from me then.
“Can you please not scare the shit out of me? I’ve already had a really, really hard day.”
“What did you just say?”
“Exactly what you heard. My mother, in her infinite wisdom, gave Tomu control of the family assets. He then mortgaged the house and all the land, sent us into debt, and ran. I have almost nothing left.”
I cover my lips with my hand as I realize just how awful I sounded about my mother. She’ll never forgive me for this.
“Oh, Vivian, I’m so sorry.” Ken goes to the bar. I remember that he refilled my wine glass at this point. No wonder I sound sleepy. I was a lot more drunk than I thought. “You don’t know where he is?”
“If I knew where he was, he’d be dead. Trust me. I’ve been imagining all the different ways I can kill him. I went to school for six fucking years, turned down a marriage proposal, and graduated summa cum laude to come home to nothing.”
I wince and drop my head. I can’t look at the screen. I can’t look at Skylar, Carlos, Lia, or Marcelo. I didn’t think I could fuck up any more than I had.
I was wrong.
Get First Flyght and start your adventure with Vivian and the crew of the Amagi!
