She remembered seeing that woman years ago in an airport, exhausted and struggling, and that memory had reassured her for years. It confirmed her belief that ambition always wins.
Bryce placed a firm hand at her back and said, “Give it five minutes, because the crowd is ready for a performance they will not forget.”
They stepped toward the center of the lawn, and Bryce raised his glass to begin the toast. The crowd quieted instantly, forming a semicircle as he spoke about shared pasts and selective success.
He built his speech carefully, guiding everyone toward a final contrast that would humiliate someone not yet present.
Then a sound interrupted everything.
It began low and distant, but it grew quickly into something impossible to ignore. The vibration passed through the ground and into their bodies before anyone fully understood what it was.
Guests looked upward as confusion spread, and the calm atmosphere fractured into uneasy murmurs. The sound intensified until it became undeniable.
A helicopter was descending directly above the estate.