Chapter 5 - The Eviction
The walk of shame from the altar to the exit doors of the Bellevue Estate was three hundred feet long.
Victoria walked it in her custom wedding dress, flanked by two large, uniformed private security officers. She kept her chin up, but her eyes were wild, darting from face to face as the guests turned their backs on her as she passed.
Outside the main doors, the afternoon air was crisp and cold.
A black town car was waiting at the bottom of the stone steps.
"My bags!" Victoria screamed at the security director, pointing back toward the grand house. "My designer clothes! My jewelry! Everything is inside that master suit!"
"Your personal effects have already been packed into three standard duffel bags, Miss Sterling," David Miller said, stepping out onto the porch with his coat unbuttoned. "They are currently sitting in the trunk of that vehicle. Any items purchased using funds drawn from Sterling Developments accounts have been retained as evidence for the grand larceny investigation."
"You can't keep my clothes!" Victoria yelled, her fists clenched at her sides.
"We didn't keep your clothes," David replied smoothly. "We kept the emerald necklace, the Cartier watches, and the three Birkin bags you billed to the Hamptons renovation budget. The rest of your cheap wardrobe is in the car."
Victoria turned toward her father, who was walking briskly down the steps carrying his own coat, his head bowed in shame. "Dad! Call our lawyers! Sue him! Sue him for breach of contract! Sue him for public humiliation!"
Her father stopped at the bottom of the steps. He looked at his daughter with a mixture of profound exhaustion and deep regret.
"Shut up, Victoria," her father said quietly. "Just get in the car."
"Dad!"
"He has the bank records, Victoria!" her father shouted, his voice cracking under the stress. "He has the phone transcripts! If we go to court, you’ll be sitting in a prison cell within six months! Get in the car before he decides to have the state police arrest you right here on the driveway!"
Victoria stood froze.
She looked up at the second-floor library window.
Standing behind the heavy glass was Teresa, holding baby Leo in her arms. The child was awake now, looking down at the driveway with quiet, innocent curiosity.
Victoria felt a wave of pure, toxic hatred rush through her veins. "That nanny..." she whispered through her teeth. "That pathetic little peasant was the one who told him..."
"Teresa didn't do anything except protect my family," Julian’s voice came from the doorway above.
Julian walked down the stone steps slowly, his hand in his tuxedo pocket. He stopped three feet away from her.
"Your vehicle is waiting, Victoria," Julian said calmly. "If this car is still on my property in two minutes, I will execute the trespass warrant."
Victoria glared at him, her chest heaving under her silk gown. "You’ll be alone forever, Julian," she hissed, taking a step toward the car door. "No woman is ever going to accept a man who is married to a dead ghost and a needy kid."
Julian looked at her for a long moment. A small, genuine smile touched the corners of his lips.
"I'm not alone," Julian said. "I have my son."
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Victoria snatched the door handle open, threw herself into the back seat, and slammed the door with such force the glass vibrated.
The black car pulled away, its tires crunching heavily over the white gravel driveway, carrying away the woman who had thought she was ninety minutes away from owning an empire.
