CHAPTER 5
"Is this the respect you were demanding, Julian?" Robert asked, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register that cut deeper than any shout.
"Dad... wait... please, let me explain!" Julian stammered frantically, stepping toward his father with palms open, tears of panic instantly welling in his eyes. "She... she was interfering with our wedding plans! She was disrespecting Chloe!"
"She is your mother!" Robert roared, slamming his heavy hand onto the mahogany table so hard that crystal glasses shattered against the wood. "She bled for you, raised you, and loved you unconditionally for twenty-six years!"
"And you threw her to the floor like trash for the amusement of a sociopath!" Robert added, pointing a trembling finger directly at Chloe.
Chloe snapped out of her shock, her fear instantly twisting into wild, defensive fury as she pointed a manicured finger back at Robert.
"She fell on her own! That video is edited! You can't prove anything!" Chloe screamed hysterically, her carefully crafted high-society persona completely disintegrating. "You're just a bitter old man who can't handle losing control over your son!"
"The forensic video analysis has already been certified by federal investigators, Chloe," Arthur Vance spoke up from behind Robert, holding a stack of legal documents. "And so have the bank records showing you attempted to transfer two hundred thousand dollars from Ellen's private medical trust yesterday morning."
The entire room erupted into whispers of pure disgust as the board members began standing up, turning their backs on the disgraced newlyweds.
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"You're done, both of you," Robert declared, sliding two thick white envelopes across the dining table. "Those are formal eviction notices for this property, which will be auctioned off on Friday."
"You have thirty minutes to collect your personal belongings," Robert added, his eyes burning with uncompromising authority. "Anything left behind will be thrown onto the driveway."
