Chapter 6 - THE EVICTION OF ELEANOR
While Mark was collapsing under the legal onslaught at his office, Eleanor Sterling was having her own rude awakening across town.
At ten o'clock morning, three heavy-duty moving trucks pulled up outside the upscale two-bedroom condominium in downtown Charlotte where Eleanor lived.
Eleanor, who had managed to catch a ride to her condo in an Uber paid for by her sister, was sitting on her leather sofa, nursing a headache and eating imported biscuits.
The doorbell rang loudly.
Eleanor opened the door, expecting a delivery driver. Instead, she was met by two county sheriff's deputies and a team of professional movers carrying rolls of packing tape and cardboard boxes.
"Eleanor Sterling?" the lead deputy asked, holding a clipboard.
"Yes? What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Eleanor demanded haughtily.
"Ma'am, we are executing a court-ordered writ of possession," the deputy stated flatly. "This property is owned by Vance Real Estate Holdings LLC. The lease agreement under your name was terminated effective eight o'clock this morning due to non-payment and material breach of terms."
Eleanor gasped, clutching her chest. "Non-payment? My son pays for this condo! My daughter-in-law's company covers the rent!"
"Your daughter-in-law's company terminated the lease agreement," the deputy corrected. "You have thirty minutes to collect your personal documents, medication, and clothing. The movers will pack the remaining furniture and place it in a commercial storage unit."
"You can't do this to me!" Eleanor shrieked, stepping into the hallway. "I am an elderly woman! I have heart conditions! I demand to speak to Valerie!"
"Miss Vance has issued a strict no-contact order," the deputy said, stepping between Eleanor and the front door. "If you refuse to vacate the premises within thirty minutes, you will be cited for criminal trespass and escorted to the county jail."
Panicking, Eleanor pulled out her phone and called Mark.
"Mark!" she screamed into the receiver the moment he picked up. "They're throwing me out! The sheriffs are inside my apartment! They're packing my things into boxes!"
"Mother, calm down!" Mark's frantic voice came back. "I'm dealing with my own nightmare right now! The company just suspended me and Chloe pending an internal audit!"
"What about my condo?" Eleanor wailed. "Where am I supposed to go?"
"I don't know!" Mark shouted back, his voice cracked with strain. "Go to a motel! Use your credit card!"
"My credit card was declined at the grocery store an hour ago!" Eleanor sobbed. "Valerie cancelled the secondary cards attached to her account!"
"Then go back to the house across from her mansion!" Mark yelled. "Sit on the porch! We have to force her to talk to us!"
Thirty minutes later, Eleanor was standing on the sidewalk beside three large cardboard boxes containing her clothes, her heart medication, and her television.
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Her luxury lifestyle, her country club access, her fine dining meals—all funded by the "country girl" she had spent seven years belittling—had vanished in less than twenty-four hours.
Desperate and humiliated, Eleanor hailed a city bus, holding her coat tightly around her shoulders as she began the long, agonizing ride back to the neighborhood she had once looked down upon.
