Chapter 14 - The Ghost of Cherry Hills
The Cherry Hills McMansion—the very suburban estate I had unknowingly funded for three years while Grant and Brooke lived like royalty—was scheduled for a public federal foreclosure auction on a crisp October morning.
I drove my matte-black Tesla down the wide, tree-lined suburban street just as the auctioneer was hammering down the final sale sign.
Sold! To Aegis Holdings LLC.
Brooke was standing across the street by the curb, watching the proceedings with red, swollen eyes. Her designer handbags were packed into the trunk of a battered, dented sedan. The high-society facade had completely crumbled; her friends had blocked her numbers, her social media accounts had been scrubbed by investigative reporters, and she was facing her own pending trial for accessory to wire fraud.
As my car glided past her, I rolled down the tinted window just a few inches.
Brooke froze, turning her face toward me with an expression of pure, burning hatred mixed with profound terror.
“Looking for a place to stay, Brooke?” I asked softly, my voice carrying clearly through the crisp autumn air.
“You ruined us,” she hissed, stepping toward the car before a federal marshal gently placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. “You destroyed our family out of spite!”
May you like
“No, Brooke,” I replied, looking straight into her eyes with chilling serenity. “I didn't destroy your family. I just stopped letting your family destroy mine.”
I rolled the window back up, pressed the accelerator, and left her standing in the dust of a life she had tried to steal.
