The Fallen Heiress

SAMANTHA The chandelier above me is made of a thousand tiny crystals, and I count them when I'm bored at these events. Tonight, I get to thirty-two before my mother squeezes my arm. "Stand straight, Samantha." I am standing straight. I've been standing straight for two hours, and my feet hurt in these heels. The dress is red silk, and it itches at my collar, but I smile. That's what Lewis women do. The ballroom is full of important people, only nobles and elites. The women boast about their families and their wealth, and the men talk about business and money. The children run between them, admiring each other's outfits. I am thirteen years old, and I already know how this world works. My father stands across the room, tall and strong. He laughs at something a bald man says, then he catches my eye and winks. I smile back. This is my life. Ballrooms and business dinners. I am the only child of the Lewis family, the intelligent heiress, the future. I don't know yet that it's all about to end. --- A man appears at my father's side. He is short and nervous, and he leans close to whisper something. I watch my father's face. The smile stays, then it falters, then it dies. His skin goes pale, and his hand tightens around his glass. The bald man keeps talking, but my father isn't listening anymore. He's staring at nothing. The nervous man slips away. My father pulls out his phone, and he looks at the screen. His face changes again. Then he looks around the room at the men, the women, and everyone who was just laughing with him. No one is laughing now. --- I don't understand what's happening, but I feel it. A cold knot in my stomach. People are looking at their phones, then at my father, then at each other. Whispers start, quiet at first, then louder. I hear a woman say, "Is it true?" I hear a man say, "It's all over the blogs." I hear another woman laugh. Not a nice laugh, a cruel one. My mother appears beside me. Her hand finds my shoulder, and her grip is tight. "Mom, what's going on?" "Nothing, darling. Stay close to me." "But everyone is looking at us." "Stay close." --- A man walks past us. He was talking to my father earlier, but now he doesn't even look at him. Another man follows, and then another. They leave the ballroom without saying goodbye. The whispers grow louder. I hear the word bribery. I hear the word corruption. I hear my father's name. Famous Mister Lewis. Bribery and corruption. --- My father walks toward us. His face is stone, and his eyes are hard. "We're leaving." "What? Why?" "Now, Felicia." He takes my mother's arm, and he takes my hand. He pulls us through the crowd. People are staring. Some are smiling, and some are laughing. I hear someone say, "There they go." I hear someone else say, "The great Lewis family." My father doesn't stop, and he doesn't look at anyone. He just walks. --- We reach the entrance of the hotel, and reporters are already waiting. Cameras. Microphones. Voices shouting over each other. "Mr. Lewis! Mr. Lewis! Is it true?" "Did you bribe officials?" "Are you going to prison?" "Did you steal from your own company? My father doesn't answer. He pushes through them, and my mother holds me tight. I bury my face in her side. Flashes, so many flashes. I see white spots when I close my eyes. "Mr. Lewis! Just one comment!" "Mrs. Lewis! Is your husband guilty?" "Samantha! Samantha, look here! I don't look. I can't look. We reach the car. My father throws open the door, and my mother pushes me inside. She climbs in after me, and my father gets in the driver's seat. He starts the engine, and reporters bang on the windows. "Go!" my mother says. "Go!" He goes. --- The car is silent. My father drives fast, too fast. His hands grip the wheel, and his jaw is tight. My mother is crying, but silent tears run down her face. She doesn't make a sound. I sit in the back, and I don't speak. "Mom." "What?" "What happened?" She doesn't answer. "Mom, what did dad do?" "Nothing." "Then why—" "Not now, Samantha." I stop talking. --- We pull into our driveway, and reporters are already there. How? How did they get here so fast? Cameras. Microphones. Voices. "Mr. Lewis! Mr. Lewis!" "Did you do it?" "Are you guilty?" My father stops the car. He looks at the house, then at the reporters, then at us. "Stay in the car." He gets out, and they swarm him. I can't see him anymore, just cameras and voices. My mother grabs my arm. "Run." "What?" "When I open this door, you run. Straight to the house. Don't look back, and don't stop." "Mom—" "Do you understand me?" I nod. She opens the door, and I run. --- I hear them behind me, the reporters, their footsteps, and their voices. "Samantha!" "Samantha, wait!" "Just one question!" I didn't stop. I run past them, past the gates, and past the lawn. I reach the front door, and it's locked. I bang on it. "Dad! Dad!" The door opens. My father is there, and he pulls me inside. My mother runs in behind me, and he slams the door. The reporters bang on it from outside, and the cameras flash through the windows. My father locks the door, and then he turns and walks away. "Dad?" He doesn't answer. "Dad, where are you going?" He walks to his home office, and he opens the door. He goes inside. The door closes, and the lock clicks. --- My mother stands in the hallway. She's breathing hard, and her dress is torn. Her hair is falling out of its pins, and she's a mess. "Mom." She looks at me. "What's happening?" She doesn't answer. She just walks to the couch, sits down, and puts her head in her hands. The reporters are still outside, and I can hear them. Their voices and their cameras. I sit beside my mother, and I don't know what else to do. "Mom, please tell me." She lifts her head, and her eyes are red. "They're saying your father took bribes." "Did he?" "No." "Then why—" "Because someone wants people to think he did." "Who?" She doesn't answer. "Who, Mom?" She looks at the office door, then at me. "I don't know yet." --- I didn't sleep that night. I sit by the window and watch the reporters. They don't leave. They camp outside our gate with their cameras and their coffee cups. I think about the party, the chandelier, the laughing, and the whispers. I think about the word bribery, and I think about the word corruption. --- The next morning, I wake to the sound of my father's voice. He's in his office, and the door is closed, but I can hear him through the wall. "Please, just hear me out." Silence. "I know, I know. But if you could just—" Silence. "We've been partners for fifteen years. Fifteen years." Silence. The phone slams down, and then it starts again. "Hello? Marcus? It's Anderson." Silence. "Marcus, Marcus, wait—" The line goes dead. Again. "Hello? David? It's Anderson Lewis." Silence. "David, please. I just need a little time." Silence. The phone slams down. Again, and again, and again. --- I sit on the stairs and listen. My mother is in the kitchen, and she's making tea she won't drink. Her hands are shaking. "Mom." She doesn't turn around. "Mom, who is he calling?" "People who owe him favors." "Do they help?" She doesn't answer. "Mom." "No, Samantha. They don't help." --- My father comes out of his office at noon. He looks older than he did yesterday, and his eyes are red. His shirt is wrinkled, and he hasn't shaved. He walks past us, and he doesn't speak. "Anderson." My mother stands. "Eat something." "I'm not hungry." "You need to eat." "I need to fix this." He walks to the door, and he grabs his coat. "Where are you going?" "To the office." "Anderson—" "I'll be back." The door closes behind him. --- He comes home at midnight. His face is grey, and his hands are empty. "Dad?" He walks past me, and he walks to his office. The door closes. My mother follows him, and I hear them through the wall. "What happened?" "They're gone." "Who?" "Everyone." "What do you mean, everyone?" "The employees. They resigned. All of them." Silence. "And the investors?" "They pulled out. Every one." Silence. "The investors, the partners, the board. Everyone, Felicia. Everyone is gone." "What do we do?" "I don't know." --- The next day, the news comes, and the whole country knows. The blogs, the newspapers, and the television. LEWIS FAMILY FALLS: FROM BILLIONAIRES TO BANKRUPTS. ANDERSON LEWIS ACCUSED OF FRAUD AND CORRUPTION. THE GREATEST SCANDAL IN ASIAN HISTORY. They show pictures of our house, our cars, and our family. They call us a laughing stock. They call my father a criminal. They call me the fallen heiress.