Chapter 6 - The Pit of Despair
Two weeks later, the lavish world the Sterling family had occupied had completely vanished. Liam and his mother, Susan, were forced to move into a cramped, dilapidated two-bedroom apartment on the industrial outskirts of the city—the very type of neighborhood Liam had sneeringly threatened to banish Claire to.
The air in the apartment was thick with the smell of cheap grease and damp walls. Susan sat on a mismatched plastic chair, her face looking ten years older without her expensive serums and weekly salon visits.
"We need to fight this, Liam!" Susan wailed, slapping her hand against the laminate table. "That miserable girl cannot keep our grandson from us! Leo is a Sterling! He belongs in high society, not being raised by a vengeful woman who ruined our family!"
Liam sat across from her, staring blankly at a bowl of instant noodles. His hair was greasy, and his expensive designer shirt was stained and rumpled. "With what money, Mom? Every single card I have is declined. The lawyers won't even take my calls unless I provide a twenty-thousand-dollar retainer. Victoria's family assets are completely locked up by the feds, and she's facing fifteen years for corporate fraud. She won't even accept my calls from the holding facility."
Suddenly, a heavy, authoritative knock rattled the flimsy apartment door.
Susan jumped up, a spark of desperate hope lighting up her eyes. "Maybe that's the bank! Maybe they realized there was a mistake!"
Liam pulled the door open, only to find two grim-faced deputies holding a stack of legal documents.
"Liam Sterling?" the lead deputy asked.
"Yes?"
May you like
The deputy thrust the papers into Liam's chest. "You are being formally served with a grand jury indictment for grand larceny, pension fraud, and criminal non-support of dependents. Your arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. Do not attempt to leave the state."
As the deputies turned and walked down the graffiti-covered stairwell, Liam collapsed against the doorframe, the weight of the papers dragging him down to the floor. He had thought Claire was a weak, uneducated housewife who could be discarded like trash. Now, he was realizing that every move he had made over the last year had been documented, analyzed, and turned into a weapon that was about to lock him away for a very long time.
