Chapter 5 - THE EVICTION NOTICE
By noon that same day, I returned to our house with two uniformed police officers and Sarah Vance by my side.
I unlocked the front door and stepped into the foyer.
Nathan was sitting on the sofa alongside Patricia and her corporate attorney, a slick man named Richard Sterling. They had papers spread across the coffee table, sipping coffee as if they were conducting a routine business meeting.
Patricia looked up, her expression turning into an arrogant sneer. “Oh, look who decided to crawl back. Did you realize you can’t afford a hotel on a schoolteacher’s salary, Clara?”
Nathan stood up, looking uneasy. “Clara, where were you? Mom’s lawyer is helping us draft an official public statement to fix the family reputation—”
“Shut up, Nathan,” I said, my voice steady and cold.
Richard Sterling stood up, buttoning his suit jacket. “Mrs. Aldridge, I advise you to sit down. We are currently preparing a formal agreement regarding the revocation of your residence in this property—”
“You’re a little late, Mr. Sterling,” Sarah Vance interrupted, stepping forward and tossing a heavy legal packet onto the coffee table.
Sterling frowned, looking at Sarah’s business card. “Sarah Vance? What is this?”
“That is an emergency injunction issued by the Probate Court three hours ago,” Sarah stated calmly. “Injunction Order 402 freezes all operations of the Aldridge Family Estate LLC pending an emergency audit of asset dissipation.”
Patricia snapped, rising from her chair. “What nonsense is this?! I am the sole trustee of this estate!”
“You WERE the trustee, Mrs. Aldridge,” Sarah corrected, leaning in. “Until yesterday, when Lily Aldridge reached her seventh birthday. Under Section 4B of Arthur Aldridge’s irrevocable 2012 trust, his biological granddaughter became a primary beneficiary with full voting rights over the estate’s residential holdings.”
Patricia turned paper-white. “She... she isn't... Nathan said—”
I pulled out the certified paternity document signed by the chief geneticist at Saint Jude Hospital and held it six inches from Patricia’s face.
“Lily is Julian’s daughter, Patricia,” I whispered, every word dripping with absolute victory. “She is your dead son’s only living child. She owns thirty-five percent of your family empire. And under the emergency court order, this house is officially designated as her primary legal residence.”
Sarah turned to the two uniformed officers standing near the door.
“Officers, please escort Patricia Aldridge off the premises,” Sarah requested smoothly. “She is currently trespassing on property owned by a trust of which she is no longer the majority controller.”
“What?!” Patricia shrieked, her voice reaching a high-pitched scream. “You can’t kick me out! This is MY son’s house!”
“The officers will escort you out, ma'am,” Deputy Vance said firmly, grabbing Patricia by her elbow. “Move along, please.”
As Patricia was hauled down the front steps, screaming curses into the street, Nathan stood frozen in the hallway, looking at me with wide, terrified eyes.
“Clara...” Nathan stuttered, taking a step toward me. “I... I didn't know... I swear I didn't know about Dad’s will...”
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I looked at my husband—the man who had let his mother humiliate our child for money—and felt absolutely nothing.
“Pack your bags, Nathan,” I said quietly. “You have one hour to leave my daughter’s house.”
