Chapter 7 - The Shattered Glass
Maya stared at him, her chest heaving. The color had completely vanished from her face.
"Maya..." Julian started, taking a step toward her, his voice softening, pleading.
"Don't," she whispered, taking a harsh step back. She looked at him as if he were a monster covered in blood. "Don't come near me."
"I can explain," Julian said, desperation bleeding into his normally impenetrable armor. "I came down here undercover to find the leak. I didn't mean to lie to you, but I couldn't blow my cover. I just saved you from federal prison."
"Saved me?" Maya laughed, a broken, hysterical sound. "You own the prison, Julian! You own everything! This was a game to you! You were playing dress-up in poverty tourism while the rest of us were sweating blood to keep our jobs!"
"It wasn't a game! Getting to know you was the most real thing I've done in ten years!"
"Bullshit!" Maya screamed, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "You're exactly what I thought you were. A manipulative, arrogant, silver-spoon psychopath. You sat there and drank coffee with me while I told you about my mother’s medical bills! You listened to me pour my heart out, knowing you could fix it with pocket change, but you just watched me struggle because it was entertaining for you!"
"That's not true," Julian pleaded, reaching out.
May you like
"Do not touch me!" Maya slapped his hand away. "You wanted to find the leak? You found him. Congratulations, Mr. Vanguard. Your empire is safe. I quit."
She grabbed her coat from her chair and ran toward the stairwell, leaving Julian standing alone in the buzzing fluorescent light, realizing he had just lost the only thing in his life that actually mattered.
