His fingers were trembling so badly it took him four attempts to write a single sentence. Terrence, please let's talk. I will do whatever it takes. The message showed as delivered. Then read, then nothing.
No response, no typing indicator, just silence. The loudest silence Gregory Whitfield had ever heard. Meanwhile, outside the hotel, Terren Cole sat in the backseat of a black sedan. Darnell Sims was driving. Neither of them spoke.
The city lights slid across the windows like rivers of gold and white. Terren's phone buzzed on the seat beside him. He glanced at the screen. Gregory's name. He turned the phone face down.
Darnell looked at him through the rear view mirror. You all right, boss? Terrence stared out the window for a long moment. Then he touched the wine stain on his chest. The fabric was still damp, still cold.
I'm fine, Darnell. Take me home. But neither of them knew that what happened in that ballroom had already left the building. Seven phones, seven videos, and by midnight, the whole country would be watching. The first video hit the internet at 11:47 p.m., a 16-second clip shot from 6 ft away.
Victoria's voice, sharp, clear, unmistakable, saying, "You people crawl in like roaches. Then the wine, then Terrence's face. Calm, still, unbroken." By midnight, the clip had been viewed 80,000 times. by 1:00 a.m. 400,000 by sunrise 6.2 million. The hashtag started on Twitter # wine on Terrence.
It trended locally in New York by 12:30 a.m. Nationally by 2:00 a.m. globally by breakfast. And it wasn't just the wine clip. Someone had recorded Terren's speech at the podium. All of it. Every word.
The moment he said the deal is off, effective immediately became the most replayed 5 seconds on the internet that week. Cable news picked it up before the morning coffee was brewed. CNN ran it at 6 a.m. with the headline, "Billionaire CEO cancels $1 billion deal after racist attack at Manhattan Gala." Fox covered it. MSNBC covered it.
The morning shows were fighting over the story like dogs over a bone. Every producer in the country wanted the same thing, an interview with Terren Cole. But Terren wasn't talking. Pinnacle Horizon's public relations team released a single statement at 7:15 a.m. MM nine words. We do not partner with Prejudice.