Chapter 5 - A Beggar at the Gates
“You can’t do this!” Ethan choked out, his chest burning as if he had swallowed broken glass. “My personal vault—my private belongings are up there!”
Eleanor stood up gracefully, smoothing her skirt. “Any personal belongings purchased during the marriage will be subject to equitable division under the divorce petition filed two hours ago by Mrs. Claire Mercer—formerly Vance. As for funds acquired using revenue generated from Aura Design Group’s stolen intellectual property, they have been placed into an escrow freeze.”
She walked toward Ethan, pulling a small silver key and an envelope from her briefcase.
“However, Claire is not entirely without mercy,” Eleanor continued smoothly. “She instructed me to give you this.”
Ethan took the envelope with shaking hands, his heart leaping with an absurd, desperate spark of hope. Had Claire softened? Was she giving him a way out? Did she want him to come back and beg on his knees so she could forgive him?
He tore the envelope open.
Inside was a single twenty-dollar bill and three one-dollar bills. Exactly twenty-three dollars. Along with it was a keycard to a three-star motel in Queens.
“She wanted you to experience the exact value you placed on her five years of loyalty,” Eleanor murmured. “Now please exit the premises, Mr. Mercer. You have five seconds before the U.S. Marshals take you into custody for obstruction.”
Ethan backed out into the rain like a condemned man walking to the gallows. He stumbled down the steps of his own corporate monument, his soaked tuxedo clinging to his shivering frame.
He took out his personal phone to call his mother, Evelyn Mercer. Evelyn had always looked down on Claire, constantly reminding Claire that an orphan girl was lucky to marry into the prestigious Mercer family, demanding Claire iron her linens and prepare banquets whenever she visited.
The call connected.
“Ethan! Thank God!” Evelyn wailed hysterically from the other end. “What is happening? The country club just revoked my membership! My black card was declined at Bergdorf’s! The doorman at the penthouse says men are changing the locks! Ethan, what did you do?!”
“Mom…” Ethan rasped, his voice barely audible over the rumble of thunder. “Claire… Claire isn't who we thought she was.”
“Claire? That useless girl? What does she have to do with my credit cards? Call the police! Tell them to arrest her!”
“She owns Vance Trust, Mom,” Ethan whispered, tears mixing with the rain on his cheeks. “She bought my debt. She took the company. We have nothing left.”
A suffocating silence fell over the line, followed by the faint sound of Evelyn dropping her phone and sobbing incoherently. The call clicked off.
May you like
Ethan stood alone in the storm, clutching the twenty-three dollars in his fist.
***
