Chapter 16 - The Auction of Ruin
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Three weeks later, the morning sky over the Montgomery estate was clear and bright.
A massive yellow banner hung across the wrought-iron front gates, reading in bold black letters: PUBLIC AUCTION BY ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICE.
Hundreds of high-society bargain hunters, antique dealers, and news crews flooded the manicured lawns that Cordelia had once guarded with tyrannical pride.
I walked up the grand stone steps, wearing a simple beige trench coat and dark sunglasses. Beside me walked Bernardet, who was holding her daughter’s hand.
Inside the grand dining room, where Cordelia had thrown the stained apron at my face three weeks ago, an auctioneer was standing on a wooden box, shouting bids into a microphone.
“Item 402! Antique mahogany dining table and chairs! Starting bid, five thousand dollars!”
I watched as rich socialites who had once attended Cordelia’s lavish dinner parties casually raised their paddles, buying up the family’s heirlooms for absolute pennies.
The gilded chandeliers, the oil paintings, the silver tea sets—everything was tagged, numbered, and sold to pay off the debts owed to the victims and the staff.
Lachlan sat on a folding chair in the corner of the room under the supervision of a court officer, watching his family’s entire legacy get dismantled item by item. When he caught my eye, he quickly looked down at the floor, his face burning with absolute shame.
May you like
Bernardet squeezed my hand. “It feels like a bad dream is finally ending, Miss Sarah.”
“No, Bernardet,” I said softly, looking at the empty space where Julian Montgomery’s portrait used to hang. “It’s an awakening.”
