Chapter 5 - The Eviction at River NorthBy 11:00 PM that night, two black armored sedans from Vanguard Security pulled up outside the entrance of the luxury penthouse tower in River North where Ethan and Vanessa had spent the last six months living behind my back.
The rainy night air was cold, but inside the top-floor suite, the lights were blazing.
Ethan stood in the center of the living room wearing a disheveled dress shirt, frantically stuffing designer clothes, watches, and leather bags into two oversized suitcases.
Sitting on the velvet sofa, weeping hysterically into a towel, was Vanessa. Two police officers stood near the front door, while Arthur Sterling sat at the dining table, supervising a team of three private forensic receivers who were systematically cataloging every piece of furniture, art, and jewelry in the apartment.
The private elevator chimed softly.
The doors opened, and I walked into the penthouse wearing my comfortable cream wool coat, my dark hair falling softly over my shoulders.
When Ethan saw me walk through his living room, he dropped his leather bag, falling flat onto his knees on the hardwood floor, crawling across the rug toward my shoes.
“Victoria! Victoria, please!” Ethan wept, his voice raspy, broken, and pathetic. “Look at me! I was wrong! I was stupid! Vanessa seduced me! She manipulated me into taking those funds! I love you, Victoria! I love our baby!”
I stopped two feet from his trembling hands, looking down at him with zero anger, zero hatred, and zero lingering grief.
I felt only a deep, weightless, and absolute freedom.
“Don't speak about my daughter, Ethan,” I said softly, my voice smooth as ice. “You called her and me 'dead weight' three hours ago. You don't get to claim her now that your world has ended.”
“Victoria... please...” Ethan begged, grabbing at the hem of my coat. “I have nowhere to go! My cards are declined! The bank locked my car!”
Arthur Sterling stood up from the dining table, holding a fresh legal document.
“Ethan Caldwell,” Arthur announced cleanly, “you are officially served with an emergency civil eviction order, a permanent restraining order, and a formal petition for uncontested divorce on grounds of felony fraud, spousal abandonment, and grand embezzlement.”
Two police officers stepped forward, catching Ethan’s arms, pulling his weeping, limp body off the floor, guiding him toward the door.
“Victoria! Please!” Ethan shrieked as the elevator doors began to close on his crying face. “VICTORIA!”
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The doors clicked shut, sealing his voice out forever.
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the rain-swept Chicago skyline, feeling my baby kick softly beneath my palm, knowing that our home, our peace, and our future were finally ours.
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