Chapter 9 - The Eviction
Serena walked out of the dining room and opened the front door. A tall man in a plain grey suit was standing on the porch holding a clipboard.
“Beatrice Vance?” the man asked.
“She’s right inside,” Serena said, gesturing to the dining room.
The man walked in. He approached Beatrice, holding out a thick, sealed envelope. “Beatrice Vance, you have been served.”
Beatrice took the envelope with trembling hands. She tore it open.
“What is this?” she croaked.
“It is a formal thirty-day notice of eviction,” Serena stated clearly. “You have overstayed your welcome as a guest in my home. You have thirty days to pack your belongings and vacate the premises, or the sheriff’s department will forcibly remove you.”
Beatrice looked at the legal document, the bold black letters swimming before her eyes. The arrogance, the entitlement, the smug superiority—it all vanished, replaced by sheer, undeniable terror. She was sixty-nine years old, with no savings, entirely reliant on a son who had just been exposed as a fraud.
“Lucas,” she pleaded, grabbing his arm. “Lucas, you can't let her do this to me! Where will I go?”
Lucas gently pulled his arm away from his mother’s grasp. He looked at Serena, a pleading, pathetic look in his eyes.
“Serena... please. This is too much. I’m sorry, okay? I’m so sorry. I should have told them. I should have defended you. Just... don't do this to her.”
“I’m not doing anything to her,” Serena said coldly. “I am reclaiming my property. And while we’re on the subject of removing unwanted things from my home, Evelyn will be sending your divorce papers to your office on Monday morning.”
If the eviction notice was a bombshell, the word divorce was the nuclear fallout.
“No,” Lucas begged, stepping toward her. “Serena, no. We can go to counseling. We can fix this!”
“There is nothing to fix, Lucas. You spent two years letting this woman disrespect me in my own home because you were too weak to stand up for the truth. You stole my father’s peace, you boxed up his memories, and you tried to rewrite my reality. Get out.”
Serena turned to the crowd of relatives, who were practically shrinking against the walls.
“The party is over,” Serena announced. “Please gather your things and leave.”
No one argued. The mass exodus was swift and utterly silent. Mark and Diane hurried out the front door without making eye contact. Aunt Sylvia practically ran to her car.
May you like
Within ten minutes, the house was entirely empty of guests. Only Lucas and Beatrice remained, standing in the foyer amidst the ruins of their own ego.
“Pack a bag, Lucas,” Serena said, turning toward the stairs. “You can stay with Mark tonight.”
