The 51st President ✓(Book Four)

Chapter Four

She was sexually assaulted and beaten to death by a prison guard before she had the chance.

"Okay." I clear my throat, finally responding. "I'll...arrange a FaceTime call for...before we go back."

Tao nods, satisfied with my response. Mei yang is an individual who immediately draws emotion out of people, whether they're sensitive or not- because it's just so sad. It'd been years since the last hate crime. Her death rocked the entire world, and we all became more cautious for a while- since nobody saw that coming.

Justice For Mei protests erupted in every state and every country's biggest and smallest cities across the world. The prison guard got life, and the family got seven million dollars- though most thought it wasn't enough and I agree with them. You can't replace a human with money. Sure, you can try- but her children were all under ten years old at the time.

Imagine having to explain to your kids that mom's death changed the world- and then multiply it times ten. I remember the dad trying to keep them away from the trial, and then them getting constantly bombarded with it at school.

Life really fucking sucks.

"Thank you." Tao interrupts my thoughts. "We'll...have time on the plane."

He finally leaves. I grab my purse, ready to head downstairs. When I open my door, I come face to face with Ethan. Lilith's standing across the hallway, stationed to stare at anybody who comes in.

"Hey..." My voice trials off. I'm suddenly hit with what a mistake last night was. I mean fuck- the public would scream "power play" if they ever found out, though he started it.

"Hey.." he says. "Look I...I'm..."

"Don't you dare say you're sorry." I shake my head. "We were both willing participants but..."

"We both agree it can't happen again?"

I finally look him in the eyes. He's kind, genuine.

"Yeah- it can't."

——-

  This couldn't be any more awkward if we tried to make it so. Tao, Ethan and I are sitting in Air Force one's meeting room, waiting on the house speaker to pick up. We have nothing to talk about, with the thing of importance needing to be discussed with her.

  This has a similar vibe to waiting on the results of the election- just more serious. Somebody's safety is on the line here, something we don't want to risk. If a pre-approved list of investigators are all that has access to him, the possibility of something going wrong is minimized.

  I can hear a voice in my head telling me he deserves anything that happens to him. Then the other, more humane part says nobody deserves to die.

  He was attempting to perform a worldwide electrical blackout. That is not not a death sentence- but it would have been for hundreds of thousands of people.

  My phone rings with a text notification. At the same time, Ethan nudges my shoulder.

  "Are you just not gonna talk to me at all?"

  What? Two hours ago he said it would be best that we never do what we did again. It's going to take a few days for me to be able to look at him normally. Last night was amazing....it was just uncalled for.

  "Isn't that what you wanted?" I quickly type out. Beside me, he swallows and nearly drops his phone. I watch as he tries to choose his next words carefully.