Chapter 7 - The Reckoning
The garden party shattered into utter chaos. Guests hurriedly excused themselves, murmuring in hushed, scandalized tones as they rushed toward the parking area. Lenora tried to stop them, shouting excuses, but no one listened. The high society she had spent years trying to impress was watching her family crumble in real time.
Richard Harrison signed a statement with Deputy Miller on the spot, officially pulling Blackwood Development out of the deal and declaring himself a victim of Grant's fraud.
"You'll hear from my attorneys before the sun sets today, Vance," Harrison growled before striding off toward his limousine.
Grant stood frozen in the gazebo, looking like a ghost. Lenora rushed to his side, clutching his arm.
"Mara, please," Lenora hissed, turning her glare on me, her eyes filled with pure poison. "You're destroying Grant's life! How can you be so cruel to your own husband?"
"I didn't destroy his life, Lenora," I replied calmly, standing tall beside Arthur. "He destroyed it the moment he decided that ten years of my hard work was nothing more than garbage to be bulldozed for a quick payout."
"You dragged us into this!" Grant screamed, his face red and contorted with rage. He took a lunging step toward me. "You ruined everything! You stupid, arrogant—"
Deputy Miller immediately grabbed Grant’s arm, pulling him back and twisting his wrists behind his back.
"That's enough, Grant," Miller said firmly. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
The metal cuffs clicked shut around Grant's wrists.
Lenora gasped, staggering back into the gazebo railing. "You can't arrest him! Do you know who I am?!"
"I know exactly who you are, Mrs. Vance," Arthur said coldly, handing her a white envelope. "And you've just been served with a formal eviction notice. You have forty-eight hours to remove your personal belongings from the carriage house guest suite. If you set foot on Fernwick property after Tuesday morning, you will be arrested for trespassing."
As Deputy Miller led a silent, defeated Grant down the stone path toward the waiting police cruiser, Lenora dropped her designer handbag onto the grass, sobbing hysterically.
May you like
I stood on the lawn, watching the flashing red and blue lights disappear down the long gravel driveway. The silence that followed was peaceful, broken only by the gentle rustling of the oak trees and the distant chirping of birds returning to the ponds.
Fernwick was safe.
