The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 124

After Annelise Sargent left, the heavy oak doors shut behind her like the closing curtain on an era.

Inside, the wedding venue had turned into a complete disaster.

The pure white daisies and calla lilies were scattered across the floor, trampled beyond recognition by panicked footsteps, and stained with red wine and food grease, looking like a torn, muddy wedding dress.

Most of the guests had long smelled the danger and slipped away under various "polite" excuses.

But every single person who left had their phones loaded with photos and videos of today's absurd drama—enough gossip to fuel their social circles for the next three months.

It was completely predictable that headlines about the "Live-Action Lehman Scandal" would spread virally through Cresthaven's high society within hours.

The only people left were business partners deeply financially tied to the Lehman Group, too afraid to leave but awkward to stay, watching this endless family farce while caught between a rock and a hard place.

The piercing wail of the ambulance drew closer until it stopped right outside the front doors.

Lizzie had been dragged and carried to a nearby sofa by the staff. Her mind was entirely gone, as she babbled incoherent nonsense, alternating between sobbing and manic laughter.

Barnum Lehman, pale with fury, directed the paramedics to strap her down on the stretcher.

Before leaving, he glared at his two sons with bloodshot eyes, his voice low but packed with undeniable threat.

"You two, my study. Now."

The Lehman study on the third floor was perennially draped in heavy dark velvet curtains, the air thick with the smell of old cigars and sandalwood.

This was the first time the three men had stood face-to-face in the same room since Elias Lehman left three years ago.

Barnum sat behind the massive rosewood desk that symbolized his patriarchal power, his face deadly grim like the eerie calm after a storm.

He didn't look at his disgraced younger son, but instead locked his gaze on his resurrected older son.

"Things have reached this point. I can't control what outsiders say, and I don't care to."

Barnum's voice was hoarse, like it had been scraped with sandpaper, every word heavy with oppressive tension.

"But the Lehman family will not collapse."

He paused, shifting the conversation like a blunt knife twisting toward the other man in the room.

"Elias, you're back alive. Good. Handle your own mess."

"For those shares, you turned a blind eye as your golden boy and my wife put on a disgusting affair."

"Now, after I exposed all your schemes in front of three hundred people in Cresthaven, you're still thinking about those shares?"

With every word Elias spoke, Barnum's face darkened.

Finally, the well-maintained face of the man who had sat at the top for decades flushed a furious purple.

Smack!

He slammed his hand on the desk so hard that the antique marble paperweight jumped.

"I am thinking about the livelihoods of the Lehman Group's two thousand employees!"

Barnum finally tore off his fake composure and roared.

"You think I wanted to do this?! You think I wanted you dead?!"

"Our lithium mine project in South America had three billion in funds suddenly frozen by the local government! Three billion! Not three million or thirty million!"