Chapter 14 - Eviction Notice
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The rain had returned to Seattle by late Friday evening, washing over the iron gates of the Rhodess estate on Lake Washington.
A moving van and two county sheriff vehicles were parked in the cobblestone driveway. Deputies stood by the front porch, overseeing the final execution of the court-ordered eviction.
I stood on the brick patio, wearing my trench coat, watching as court bailiffs placed yellow federal seizure seals across the heavy oak front doors.
A taxi pulled up near the gates, and Julian stepped out, accompanied by Mila. They were carrying four battered canvas suitcases—everything they had left to their names.
Mila ran up the driveway, her eyes red from crying, pointing her finger at me. “You monster! You’re taking our home! Where are we supposed to live?”
I looked down at her calmly. “This house was built using six million dollars embezzled from my project royalties, Mila. It was never your home. It was a stolen monument to your family's vanity.”
Julian stepped up beside his sister, his shoulders slouched, his spirit completely crushed. He looked at the massive stone mansion, the manicured lawns, the floor-to-ceiling windows he had bragged about to all his friends.
“Leah...” Julian choked out, his eyes wet with tears. “Can’t you at least let us stay in the guest house? Just until the trial ends?”
I looked at the man who had stood silently while his mother threw me out into the rain three days ago.
“The guest house is being auctioned off next Tuesday, Julian,” I said softly. “The proceeds will go toward paying the back wages of the domestic staff your mother refused to pay last month.”
I reached into my pocket, pulled out a small, metallic object, and held it out to him.
Julian looked down at my hand. Resting in my palm was the branded silver Vanguard pen he had bragged about during our wedding day.
May you like
“You can keep the pen, Julian,” I said, dropping it into his shirt pocket. “Consider it a gift from Miss Sutton.”
I turned and walked toward Arthur Vance’s waiting sedan, leaving Julian and Mila standing in the freezing rain, surrounded by their luggage, staring at the locked gates of their lost paradise.
