Chapter 3 - The Queen Takes the Throne
Eleanor slammed her hands against the glass, her eyes wide with unadulterated shock. "Evelyn?! No... this is a mistake! You don't have the money to buy a $25 million estate!"
Evelyn walked into the foyer, her assistant holding an umbrella behind her. She looked around the majestic room—the place where she had been starved, emotionally abused, and manipulated for twenty-seven years.
"Good morning, family," Evelyn said softly, her voice echoing in the grand hall.
"Evelyn! What is the meaning of this fake legal performance?!" Eleanor screamed, rushing toward her daughter. Marcus Sterling immediately blocked Eleanor’s path with a firm arm. "Did you use company funds to pull a prank on us?!"
"Prank?" Evelyn chuckled, pulling a set of golden keys from her pocket and tossing them lightly in her hand. "Mother, while you were busy spending my earnings on Mia’s designer bags and high-stakes poker games, I was buying up your family’s debt. Phoenix Holdings isn't just a random company. It's my offshore asset."
Richard turned deathly pale. "You... you bought our mortgage?"
"I bought all of it, Dad. The mansion, the country club membership, the rights to the Vance family trademark, and 51% of Vance Enterprises' voting stock," Evelyn said coldly. "You thought you were holding me hostage with a $500,000 debt demand? You were playing checkers while I was buying the chessboard."
Mia broke down, falling onto the polished floor, sobbing hysterically. "Evelyn, please! I’m your sister! You can't put us out on the street! The loan sharks will kill me!"
Evelyn walked over to Mia, kneeling down until they were eye-to-eye. She gently reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Mia’s ear.
"When I was twenty, Mia, I asked you for $2,000 to cover my tuition after Mom took my scholarship money," Evelyn whispered, her voice laced with poison. "Do you remember what you said to me?"
Mia trembled, unable to answer.
"You laughed in my face and told me that trash belongs in the gutter," Evelyn continued, her eyes completely devoid of warmth. "So today, little sister, I'm just sending the trash where it belongs."
Evelyn stood up and turned to the sheriff deputies. "Officers, pack their personal belongings in plastic trash bags. They have thirty minutes to leave my house."
"Evelyn! You evil bitch! God will punish you!" Eleanor shrieked, clawing at the guards as they grabbed her arms. "I gave birth to you! I gave you life!"
"And you made sure that life was living hell," Evelyn replied calmly. "Now, get out of my sight."
As the guards dragged Eleanor, Richard, and Mia out into the pouring rain with black garbage bags filled with clothes, Evelyn walked up to the master bedroom balcony. She watched them crying and begging on the street outside the iron gates.
Suddenly, her phone rang. An private caller ID flashed on the screen.
Evelyn answered. "It's done."
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A deep, sinister male voice spoke from the other end of the line:
"Congratulations, Evelyn. You took back the mansion. But you still don't know the real reason why your mother demanded that $500,000... It wasn't for Mia's gambling debt. It was to hide what they did to your real mother 25 years ago."
