Sabine was a woman of stunning beauty, fine breeding, and expensive tastes, an heiress and exceedingly wealthy woman in her own right. Married and divorced several times, she had grown cynical and contemptuous of the world. With an icy heart, she took from life what she wanted. Having all the possessions she could desire, she lived only for excitement, thrills, and danger. Only when adrenaline and fear were coursing through her veins, did she feel alive.
On the night they met, J.P. Ellington was co-hosting a fund raising dinner at the Seattle Convention Center for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
Since Meredith couldn’t attend, Peter took the opportunity to drive out to the Emerald City in his brand new Lamborghini Aventador J-17, newly purchased for $750,000. The fiery red, racing machine sped, sleek and low, to the city on the water. He thrilled at its power and sound.
Opening it up, through Eastern Washington, his heart raced with the ease of its speed, as he flew across the open lands to the pass of the Cascades. Its climb to the top was effortless, as the powerful engine purred.
At the convention center, Sabine stepped out of her escort’s Mercedes, in a long, glimmering gown of silver and gold. Adorned with sparkling diamonds and fur, she turned just as an attractive man drove up in an exquisite, gorgeous, Lamborghini. Electricity flowed through her as she envisioned riding in that powerful machine, at high speed, possibly with the man behind the wheel.
I wonder who he is.
As the doors of his racing machine swung open, Peter stepped out, handed his keys to the valet and glanced up to see a gorgeous woman on the arm of a gentlemen, look back at him with interest. Everything about her said money. Her dress, jewels, fur and her air said it all.
What a stunning woman, he thought infatuated, as he returned her smile.
Inside, Peter found J.P. at the master of ceremonies table. The men shook hands, and talked for a bit, then his father-in-law escorted Peter to his seat.
“Well, hello Sabine,” J.P. greeted the beautiful woman seated across the table from Peter’s place of honor.
As she smiled he continued, “This is my son-in-law Peter Lawrence. Peter, this is Sabine Stoughton, of the Boston Stoughtons.”
“Delighted,” Peter said beaming a welcoming smile.
Settled, he glanced around the gigantic banquet hall. The atmosphere was full of intoxicating excitement. He loved the display of wealth, the recognition of the rich and influential, and the energy generated by people of power. The room was filled with CEO’s of large, worldwide corporations, bankers, and investment brokers, many with names he knew and admired. Wealthy families and their entourages filled many a table with glitz and glamor.
Peter’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and Sabine noticed. His exhilaration ignited hers. Amiable talk was exchanged between them during the event, while Sabine’s escort sat silently beside her, defeated into submission by her cold disdain.
Before the night was over, she had slipped Peter her phone number, and he squeezed her hand warmly, signifying his acceptance.
I wonder what my life would’ve been like, if I’d married someone like her?
Suddenly, the familiar craving stirred. The desire, determination, and devotion to possess her struck him. And just as in his youth, he welcomed the idea unreservedly.
Late that night, lying in his bed at the hotel, he couldn’t resist calling her. Hours later, the call was terminated, but not before a bond of equal fascination had been established and plans made to meet.
The next day, after phoning Meredith and telling her he had business in Seattle for a few days, Peter and Sabine drove his fast car over the mountains and into the plains of Eastern Washington. With his radar-detector active, he sped unimpeded into Idaho. Not wanting to stop their glorious day together, Peter kept going the seventy miles across the Idaho panhandle into Montana. Then he let Sabine drive.
The drive was adrenaline-charged, with the roar of the engine at high speeds, and the scenery flying by. She was alive, her heart beating hard. Looking over at Peter, she was elated to see he was relishing the speed and danger as much as she.
With the excitement, thrills and dangers of the day still coursing in their veins, the two found the best five star hotel in Helena, Montana and spent a passionate night, relishing the secrecy and thrill spawned from their affair.
Peter couldn’t get enough of her. Sabine seemed to return his affections as long as he kept her electrified, thrilled and sparkling with their intrigue.
The following day, Peter allowed Sabine to drive wherever she desired. Her excitement, fed his and they drove hundreds of miles through Wyoming and back again. The police tried to follow once, but they were quickly left behind in the flight of the red, racing machine. Sabine quickly took a side road and hid the car in a forest of trees.
The reckless couple passionately kept busy as they allowed time to pass. Sabine pouted when Peter took over the controls again. Reaching over, he roughly pulled her to him and whispered, “Next weekend, we’ll go white water rafting. You pick the river,” he smiled mischievously.
Sabine’s eyes sparkled with the challenge.
Peter drove Sabine to the airport in Spokane and returned her home. With a passionate kiss, he said good-bye, promising her an exciting weekend to come.
Before going home, he adjusted his demeanor, changing into the devoted husband. How easy it was for him to put on the false face of a good and loving husband, because deceit was thriving in his heart.
Walking through the door of his luxurious home, he hugged her and kissed her fondly, just as he always did, when returning home. His heart was only for himself and what he desired. If he had grown as God intended, he’d have cared about Meredith first and experienced the value of love, honesty and devotion.
“Darling,” he said sweetly, hugging her again and asking her with fake concern. “I’ve a new merger in the works that’ll be taking me away from home for a while. I’m afraid I’ll be out of town on business quite a lot in the near future. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” she said loyally. “How long do you think you’ll be?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll be lining up new investors as well. It’s a big project and quite important. But I’ll try and get it done as quickly as I can. I’ll keep you informed. Meanwhile, don’t call the office. I’m keeping this top secret, for now. Just a few of us are working on it. I think it would be better for you to call my cell and leave a message. Then, I’ll call you as soon as I’m free,” he said, spinning his lies.
The next few weeks were intense and thrilling. Peter had no intention of leaving his wife and the Ellington fortune, at first, but he couldn’t get enough of Sabine.
His desire for her and all she possessed was consuming him. No one had ever made him feel the way she did and he couldn’t get enough of it.
From the start, Peter and Sabine spent their lives recklessly, finding adventure, danger and risk. They seemed to feed off of it and each other. They loved risking it all. They raced, sky dived and found adventures, thrilling and daring to each other. He spent freely, expensively and in a depraved way. Gambling was their favorite pastime, when not racing.
He lavished her with jewels, furs and expensive restaurants. Weekend trips to the Bahamas, and the Hamptons fueled his relationship with her, and soon they became inseparable. It was hard to leave her, and it was getting hard to deceive Meredith.
His wife dutifully spent her life at home, seeing him once in a while, but he was gone so much. She started to worry and determined to talk to him the next time he was able to come home.
Somewhere in his relationship with Sabine, his thoughts changed from hanging onto the Ellington fortune that he might one day inherit, many years down the road, to the prospect of having Sabine for his wife and all she possessed now.
Before long, he was devoting his time, energy and money into winning Sabine, the one he should have had in the first place.
But, his money was becoming a problem. He was spending e
verything he was making. He couldn’t make it fast enough, and he had already spent most of Meredith’s money, without her knowing.
There wasn’t anything wrong with that was there? It was his money too, wasn’t it?
But, he needed to get more, somewhere - but how?
It wasn’t long before his new life-style started to take its toll. Meredith was unhappy with her suspicions of another woman and she complained, cried and fought with him, whenever he was home. He was now borrowing huge amounts to keep Sabine happy. If he wasn’t careful, Sabine would discover he was broke and leave him.
Split between a dying marriage and the hope of a rich and wonderful future with Sabine, he was determined to risk it all in one desperate attempt, before it was too late.
Now was the time to ask her to marry him, before he was completely insolvent and he couldn’t keep up the exciting life they led - but how?
Peter sat in his office, looking out the window pondering a plan that would succeed.
Maybe she’d be receptive to the idea, if I take her on a lavish trip to Paris, on our company jet, a shopping spree in the Faubourg Saint-Honore’ district, and dinner for two at the L’Abeille restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel? With a large diamond ring in my pocket, and champagne chilling by the table, I could broach the question then… she could say yes. She has to say yes! But where am I going to get that kind of money? I’m tapped out. What am I going to do?
Peter agonized over his predicament as he scanned the work piling up on his desk.
A letter from Mrs. Gavin Drummond caught his attention. In it, she was requesting a change in her portfolio.
Nessa Drummond was an elderly, wealthy widow, worth billions. According to her letter, she was now ill and in need of establishing regular payments for a live-in nurse. She indicated she was in the early stages of congestive heart disease and could no longer come to the office to orchestrate the paperwork. Would he mind coming to her home with the appropriate papers?
If I remember correctly, she doesn’t have anyone else in her life, except her servants. Her husband made his money in oil, didn’t he?
Peter made inquiries into Mrs. Drummond’s background and learned that Nessa was indeed virtually alone in the world. The Drummond’s had no living children, or relatives. Her estate was to be given to the Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington, where her youngest son had been tenderly cared for and treated for many years, until his untimely death at the age of seven, and the rest was to be endowed to the University of Washington, where her husband had been a board member and sponsor of his alma matter.
Greed enticed him.
Look at all the money she has! If only I could borrow just a little of it, just for a while, just until I can marry Sabine. The old lady would never miss it and I can put it back later.
What ethics he had, vaporized as he slid easily into the world of deception. He rationalized that he had found the answer to his problems.
All I have to do is get her to sign a Power of Attorney. I’ll tell her it’s the normal thing to do in these cases, and it’ll allow me to make changes in the future without causing her undo stress and concern. I’ll convince her it’s for the best. Then it’ll be easy for me to manage her accounts, using the money I need, just for a while. No one will know. I’ll put it back as soon as I marry Sabine. It’s worth the risk. I’m not going to hurt anyone, really, and I’ll have everything I’ve ever wanted.
With that reasoning, he slipped over the line of hard work, honesty and safety, into the dark world of laziness, deceit, and uncertainty.
With his secretary by his side, to notarize the documents, Peter easily wove a tale of deception and shadows for the elderly Mrs. Drummond.
The elderly woman signed all the papers, never suspecting her money was now in the hands of a swindler, a cheat, a man who would someday fall into ruin, possibly taking her wealth with him.
How quickly Peter, a greedy man, stole what wasn’t his. Any conscience he had, he quickly soothed with justifications. As soon as he returned to his office, he liquidated some of her assets and placed over two million dollars into his bank account. That very day he made reservations for Paris. Within a few weeks, Sabine and Peter were on their way to the City of Light.
Shocking, isn’t it, how fast a person’s intentions can change. Like the flip of a switch, he went from borrowing her money into figuring out how much of her estate he could keep.
He rationalized that with cleaver excuses, he could justify to anyone, how she had spent her money, on this charity or that, with a phony document or two, signed by him with her power of attorney. No one was ever going to know.
He’d be sure her servants bequeaths were kept, or even her nurse, if it should come to it. The hospital and university would never know the lion’s share of her wealth would go to him. It was so easy to explain it away.
Sabine said yes in Paris, with just one stipulation - he must sign a prenuptial agreement - the only dark spot on a wonderful, lovely weekend.
What did he care, he’d be wealthy beyond his dreams. His marriage to her was going to be exciting and wonderful. Finally! His dreams were about to come true.
Time passed. His divorce from his first wife was accomplished as quickly as he could get it done. Peter never looked back at the wreckage of people left behind in his pursuit to be rich. His parents and siblings had long ago faded out of his life, but now, his devoted ex-wife was left alone and crushed, in a world not of her making.
With access to all the money he’d ever wanted, Peter gambled, raced fast cars, and threw lavish parties. He and Sabine’s new life-style was spent recklessly, wastefully, and without a thought for the future.
Peter Michael Lawrence had arrived… or had he?
His life, now built upon lies, deceit and theft trembled with its flimsiness. If he only knew what the penalties of his actions would cost him, in the end.
Small bits of truth were already starting to work their way into the light. Vague concerns started to arise.
Yet, nothing materialized to destroy his life, built on his deceit at this time. But the moment was coming… a time of exposure and accounting that he would have to face.
What steps would he take then? What price would he be willing to pay to stay safe? And who would be harmed in the process, for there are always victims when greed survives.
* * * *
And now - Ann Henderson had just moved into Drummond Hall to help an old woman. How would her coming affect the web of deceit that flourished there?
A New Day