Chapter 6 - THE SHELL GAME UNRAVELED
The confrontation in the conference room broke Ethan’s composure completely.
He staggered out of the building into the humid Raleigh afternoon air, his mind spinning uncontrollably. He got into his car, where Chloe was waiting for him, scrolling nervously on her phone.
"How did it go?" Chloe asked, looking up with wide eyes. "Did she unfreeze the company accounts?"
Ethan slammed his hands against the steering wheel, letting out a primal scream of frustration. "She knows everything! She has a forensic accountant! She has photos of us in Asheville!"
Chloe gasped, pulling back against the passenger door. "What?! How did she get photos?!"
"Her lawyer has been tracking me for weeks!" Ethan yelled, turning the key in the ignition. "She filed for divorce! She evicted my mother! They're coming after the company, Chloe! They're calling it corporate fraud!"
Chloe's expression instantly changed. The sweet, supportive demeanor she had maintained during their luxury trips vanished, replaced by a sharp, calculating glare. "Wait... corporate fraud? Ethan, you told me those invoices were legitimate! You told me Mercer Innovations was funded by your private investors!"
"They were funded by my wife's trust!" Ethan snapped. "Which was supposed to be mine anyway!"
"I am the senior project manager of that firm!" Chloe shouted, her voice rising in panic. "If the federal investigators get involved, my name is on those consulting invoices! You made me sign those transfer sheets!"
"You took twenty percent of the payout!" Ethan screamed back. "Don't act like you were an innocent bystander!"
Chloe grabbed her purse, popped the passenger door open, and stepped out onto the curb before the car had even left the parking space. "I am calling my own lawyer right now! Do not call me again, Ethan! We are done!"
"Chloe! Get back in the car!" Ethan yelled out the window, but she was already rushing down the sidewalk, furiously typing on her phone.
Panic, thick and suffocating, settled over Ethan's chest. He sped away from downtown, heading straight for the gated community where his mother was currently packing her bags.
When he pulled into the driveway of the four-acre estate, he saw a Wake County Sheriff's patrol car parked near the front entrance.
Two deputies stood near the open front door while Diane was outside, dragging three oversized suitcases across the manicured lawn, screaming hysterically at the officers.
"This is illegal!" Diane shrieked, her hair wild, her makeup smeared with tears. "My son owns this house! I have lived here for three years! You can't treat me like a common criminal!"
"Ma'am, step away from the vehicle," the deputy said calmly, holding up a copy of the emergency eviction order. "The owner of the property has requested immediate execution of the order. You have fifteen minutes to load your personal items into your son's car and leave the property premises."
Ethan ran up the driveway. "Officer! Officer, please! I am Ethan Mercer! This is my house!"
The deputy checked his clipboard, looking at Ethan with complete indifference. "Mr. Mercer? You're actually listed on this order as well. You are officially trespassed from this property. If you step foot past the front porch, you will be arrested for misdemeanor trespass."
Diane ran to Ethan, grabbing his arm frantically. "Ethan! Tell them! Tell them to arrest Ava! She's doing this to hurt us!"
Ethan looked at the house he had bragged about to his business associates for four years—the high ceilings, the custom marble countertops, the infinity pool in the back. None of it belonged to him. It had never belonged to him. It was all built by Richard Carter, a man Ethan had dismissed as an old-fashioned real estate dinosaur.
"Mom... shut up," Ethan whispered hoarsely, dropping his head into his hands.
"What did you say to me?!" Diane gasped, looking at her son in total shock.
"Shut up!" Ethan screamed, turning on her with a face red with fury. "This is your fault! If you hadn't pulled her out of bed while she was sick, if you hadn't treated her like dirt every single day, none of this would have happened! She would have kept paying our bills! She would have never called that lawyer!"
Diane stumbled back as if she had been slapped. "My fault?! I was protecting you! I was showing her who runs this family!"
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"There is no family!" Ethan yelled, tears of humiliation finally spilling down his face. "We are broke, Mom! We have nothing! The accounts are frozen! The company is gone! Chloe left me! We have nowhere to go!"
The sheriff's deputy cleared his throat loudly. "You two have five minutes to get those bags into the trunk and clear the driveway. Otherwise, the tow truck arrives for your vehicle."
