Chapter 7 - The Inheritance of AshesMy father staggered back against the wall, his breath catching in his throat, clutching his chest with one trembling hand.
"You... you took the company?" he whispered, horror dawning in his sunken eyes. "That was your grandfather’s legacy. That was forty years of hard work..."
"No, Father," I said, my voice cold and steady. "Grandfather built that company with integrity, blood, and sweat. You and David turned it into a machine of greed, deceit, and cowardice. I didn't steal it back. I rescued it from the grave you dug for it."
Marcus checked his watch, sliding another document across the desk toward my parents.
"Now, as for living arrangements," Marcus continued briskly. "Since this property is now under Ms. Vance’s sole legal ownership, and since the previous fraudulent lease agreements are null and void, you two are technically occupants without a contract."
My mother looked up in sheer panic, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You... you're evicting us? From our own home? We raised you! We fed you! We put a roof over your head!"
"You put a roof over my head for twenty-six years," I replied, walking slowly toward them, my heels clicking against the hardwood floor. "And the moment I needed a roof for twenty-four hours after surviving two years in a federal prison, you handed me a bottle of rubbing alcohol, treated me like a biohazard, and told me to sleep in a motel."
I stopped right in front of my mother, looking down into her tear-streaked, wrinkled face.
"You have forty-eight hours to pack your belongings and vacate the premises," I said, my tone absolute and unyielding. "The moving trucks will be here Wednesday morning. Don't worry—unlike you, I’ll provide boxes. And unlike you, I won't throw your childhood photo albums in the trash."
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My father let out a low, ragged groan, sliding down the wall until he sat flat on the floor, his head bowed in absolute defeat.
The empire they had built on lies, betrayal, and cowardice had finally collapsed, burying them beneath its ruins.
