Chapter 6 - The Scavengers Arrive
Two weeks after the eviction, Dominic and Victoria were living in a cramped, two-bedroom rented apartment on the dusty outskirts of the city. The carpet was stained, the walls were paper-thin, and the air smelled faintly of cheap bleach and old cabbage.
Victoria sat on a faded velvet sofa she had managed to buy off a second-hand listing, her hands shaking as she tried to paint her nails. Her diamond rings—the ones she used to flaunt at charity luncheons—had all been pawned to pay for their first month’s rent and food.
"This is unlivable!" Victoria wailed, dropping the nail polish bottle onto the rickety coffee table. "The noise from the street is intolerable! Dominic, where are you going?"
Dominic stood by the front door, wearing a wrinkled suit that had seen better days. He looked hollow, his eyes sunken, his skin sallow. He hadn't shaved in four days.
"I have a meeting with Arthur Pendelton," Dominic said listlessly. "He said he might have an opening for a project consultant at his firm."
"Arthur Pendelton?!" Victoria gasped, standing up. "He was your father’s junior assistant twenty years ago! He used to clean our golf clubs! You cannot work for him!"
"I don't have a choice, Mother!" Dominic snapped, slamming his fist against the thin front door. "We have eight hundred dollars left in our bank account! The electricity bill is overdue! Sterling Construction is in receivership! The bank is liquidating our equipment on Friday!"
"It’s that girl's fault!" Victoria screamed, her voice cracking with hysterics. "That treacherous, deceptive little snake! She tricked us! She pretended to be poor just to trap you!"
"She didn't trick us," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a dark, hollow tone. "We treated her like trash. You treated her like trash. She loved me, Mother. She loved me when I had nothing, and we threw her down the stairs because she didn't buy expensive clothes!"
"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Victoria shrieked. "I did everything for you! I protected this family!"
"You killed my child!" Dominic roared, stepping toward her with a terrifying look in his eyes. "You pushed my pregnant wife! You destroyed my life!"
Victoria flinched, stepping back until her spine hit the wall. For the first time, she saw true hatred in her son’s eyes.
Before either of them could speak again, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
Dominic pulled it open, expecting a debt collector or a process server. Instead, standing in the dingy hallway was Paige, dressed in a cheap imitation leather jacket, accompanied by two men in dark suits carrying legal summonses.
"Dominic," Paige said, offering him a cruel, mocking smile.
"What are you doing here?" Dominic demanded.
"I’m serving you," Paige said brightly, stepping aside as one of the men handed Dominic a thick envelope. "Since your construction company collapsed while I was listed as an unpaid brand consultant on your marketing materials, I’m suing you for unpaid compensation, emotional distress, and fraudulent misrepresentation."
Victoria rushed to the door, her face contorted in rage. "You vile little parasite! You slept with him while he was married! You don't get a single penny!"
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"Actually, Victoria, I do," Paige laughed, turning on her heel. "Your son signed my consultancy contract six months ago while trying to impress me in Miami. It has a fifty-thousand-dollar termination clause. See you in court, Sterlings. Oh, and enjoy the apartment! It suits you!"
As Paige’s heels clicked down the concrete hallway, Dominic slowly slid down the doorframe, letting the legal papers fall around him like dry leaves.
