Chapter 13 - The Public Humiliation Outside The Fashion Boutique
Exhausted, hungry, and completely broke, Elena wandered aimlessly down Fifth Avenue in the cold afternoon drizzle.
She stopped in front of her flagship luxury boutique—the very store where she had humiliated Clara and her son yesterday.
A fresh vinyl banner hung across the grand glass entrance displaying a massive new company logo and title.
VANCE GLOBAL FLAGSHIP STORE — UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Workers were busy removing the giant gold-plated letters spelling out ELENA from above the double glass doors.
Elena watched in sheer agony as her name was ripped down and tossed carelessly into the back of a trash truck.
A group of pedestrians stopped nearby, pointing at her unwashed face and whispering loudly among themselves.
"Look, isn't that Elena Vance? The one on the morning news fleeing from the FBI?" a woman asked, pointing directly at her.
"She looks completely pathetic without her millions," another passerby laughed openly, shaking his head.
Elena pulled her hood down low over her eyes, turning away and running down the crowded sidewalk to escape the humiliation.
She ducked into a dark subway station entrance, hiding behind a concrete pillar while catching her ragged breath.
She reached into her coat pocket, pulling out her last remaining possession: a gold diamond ring worth thousands of dollars.
It was the only piece of jewelry she had managed to grab before the marshals raided her Hamptons estate.
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She would have to pawn it just to buy a meal and a cheap motel room for the night.
***
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