Chapter 3 - The Depths of Deception
The war was no longer contained within high-society dining rooms. It had spilled into the formal chambers of the San Diego Superior Court.
Three days after the hotel confrontation, Evelyn Pierce sat in a deposition room on the twelfth floor of the Hall of Justice.
She was flanked by four high-priced corporate attorneys, but her regal composure was completely gone. Her designer dress looked slightly disheveled, her skin sallow, her eyes darting nervously around the room.
Across the long oak table sat Marcus Sterling, with Ava sitting beside him. Logan sat at the far end of the table, isolated from his mother, refusing to even look in her direction.
"We are on the record," Marcus announced, turning on the digital video recorder. "In the matter of Ava Morgan and Leo Morgan v. Evelyn Pierce and Logan Pierce. Present is Mrs. Evelyn Pierce, accompanied by counsel."
Marcus picked up a thick stack of printed bank statements and set them in front of Evelyn.
"Mrs. Pierce," Marcus began, his tone smoothly menacing. "On October 14th nine years ago—precisely three days before your daughter-in-law was publicly publicly assaulted at your son's restaurant—you initiated a wire transfer of two hundred thousand dollars from your private account to a Dr. Richard Harris. Who is Dr. Harris?"
Evelyn’s lead attorney stepped in. "My client refuses to answer on the grounds of—"
"Dr. Harris was the head lab director at Pacific Fertility Clinic," Marcus interrupted, ignoring the attorney. "Dr. Harris was arrested two hours ago at San Diego International Airport attempting to board a flight to Cabo San Lucas."
Evelyn’s breath hitched. She clutched her pearl necklace tightly.
"In exchange for a full immunity plea with the District Attorney," Marcus continued, pulling a signed document from his briefcase, "Dr. Harris has provided a sworn affidavit. In it, he details how you paid him to alter Logan Pierce's semen analysis report. You instructed him to fabricate a diagnosis of irreversible azoospermia."
"That's a lie!" Evelyn shouted, slamming her hand on the table. "He's a extortionist!"
"Mother, shut up!" Logan snarled from the end of the table, his eyes burning with pure hatred.
"Logan, stay quiet!" her lawyer urged.
"No!" Logan shouted, standing up, his chair scraping violently against the floor. "She destroyed my family! She made me think my wife was a cheat! She made me throw my own child away!"
"I did it for you!" Evelyn shrieked, turning her fury onto her son. "Look at her! She was a nobody! A low-class nurse who trapped you! She was going to drag you down to her level! You were a Pierce! You were meant to marry into real wealth, real pedigree! She was a parasite!"
The deposition room fell dead silent.
Ava didn't flinch. She sat perfectly still, looking at Evelyn with a cold, terrifying serenity.
"Is that what you thought, Evelyn?" Ava asked softly. "That I was a parasite?"
"You ruined my son!" Evelyn spat, all pretense of elegance dropping away to reveal the monster beneath. "You took him away from me!"
"You ruined him yourself, Evelyn," Ava said smoothly. "Because of your arrogance, your son is ruined, your family name is disgraced, and you are going to spend the rest of your life in a federal prison for bribery, medical fraud, and conspiracy."
Marcus pulled another document from his folder.
"And there's one more thing, Mrs. Pierce," Marcus said, smiling thinly. "When Logan married Ava, he signed a family trust agreement stating that if he produced a legitimate biological heir, forty percent of the Pierce Family Estate would automatically vest in a trust managed by the mother of that child."
Evelyn’s eyes widened in sheer horror. "What?!"
"Because Leo is proven to be Logan's legitimate son," Marcus explained, sliding the trust deed across the table, "Ava now controls forty percent of your family estate. She owns your mansion in La Jolla, Mrs. Pierce. She owns your art collection. And she has already authorized the sheriff's department to serve you with an eviction notice."
Evelyn stared at the paper. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. The very thing she had fought so ruthlessly to protect—her family's wealth and social standing—had just been handed directly to the woman she had thrown into the rain.
"No..." Evelyn whimpered, her face draining of all color as she collapsed back into her leather chair. "No... my house... my home..."
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"You have twenty-four hours to pack your clothes, Evelyn," Ava said, standing up and buttoning her blazer. "Just like you gave me two minutes to pick up cash off the floor."
Ava turned and walked out of the deposition room, leaving Evelyn screaming hysterically at her lawyers while Logan sat in the corner, weeping silently into his hands.
