Chapter 10: The Gates of Judgment
Ten minutes later, Arthur's vehicle escorted a mud-splattered luxury sedan up the winding driveway of the Vance estate.
The car came to a jerky stop in front of the grand portico. The passenger door swung open, and Eleanor Davis stumbled out onto the gravel.
She looked a shadow of her former self. Her desig
ner suit was rumpled, her hair was escaping its neat styling, and her makeup was smeared around her red, swollen eyes. Gone was the imperious matriarch who had commanded the grand ballroom with arrogant sneers; in her place was a desperate, panicked woman whose entire world had just collapsed.
As I stepped out onto the front stone steps, flanked discreetly by Arthur and two security guards, Eleanor spotted me.
She practically sprinted across the gravel, stumbling slightly in her high heels before catching herself. She threw her hands out toward me, her voice cracking with a mixture of hysteria and pleading.
"Vivienne! Oh, thank God, Vivienne!" Eleanor cried out, rushing toward the steps.
Arthur’s security detail immediately stepped forward, crossing their arms to block her path before she could come within five feet of me.
"Stay back, Mrs. Davis," Arthur warned coldly.
"Vivienne, please!" Eleanor sobbed, dropping her hands and staring up at me with desperate, pleading eyes. "You have to help us! Richard is facing twenty years in federal prison! The house is being seized by the bank! Chloe hasn't stopped crying for twelve hours—she’s completely devastated!"
I looked down at her from the steps, my expression completely impassive.
"Devastated?" I repeated softly. "Is that what you call it, Eleanor?"
"It was a misunderstanding!" Eleanor babbled frantically, clasping her hands together as if in prayer. "Amanda was acting on her own! We didn't know she was going to steal the ring! And Dominic... Dominic loves you! He’s your husband! You can't let your family destroy him like this!"
"My husband," I echoed, letting out a quiet, bitter laugh. "The same husband who stood by while you grabbed the back of my dress and ripped it open from shoulder to waist? The same husband who told me to let you search my things while I was eight months pregnant?"
Eleanor flinched, but pressed on blindly. "We were just... we were just stressed! Weddings make people crazy! You’re a mother now, Vivienne, you know how important family is! Have some empathy!"
"Empathy," I said, stepping down one single step, looking directly into her desperate eyes. "For three years, I showed you empathy. I showed you patience. I stayed silent when you called me cheap trash. I kept my mouth shut when you treated me like dead weight at every family gathering."
Eleanor’s lips trembled. "Vivienne, please... I’ll apologize. I'll get on my knees right here on this gravel. I’ll do whatever you want!"
"You didn't apologize when you ripped my dress," I said, my voice cutting through her panic like cold steel. "You didn't apologize when you tried to humiliate me in front of two hundred people. And you certainly didn't care about family when you tried to frame me for a crime I didn't commit."
I shook my head slowly.
"You didn't destroy your family because of a misunderstanding, Eleanor. You destroyed your family because of your own arrogance. You spent your entire life looking down at people based on what they wore, how much money they had, and what family tree they belonged to."
I pointed a finger toward the sprawling gates of the estate.
"And now, you finally found out what happens when you kick the wrong person."
Eleanor stared at me, the last remaining shreds of her denial finally shattering completely. She realized, with terrifying clarity, that there was no mercy coming. There was no negotiation.
"You're... you're a monster," Eleanor whispered, her voice shaking with impotent rage.
"No, Eleanor," I replied quietly, turning my back on her as I walked back toward the heavy oak doors. "I'm just the trash you never thought was worth keeping."
"Arthur," I called out over my shoulder without looking back. "Escort our guest off the property. And make sure she never comes back."
"Right away, Ms. Vance."
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As the heavy oak doors closed behind me, shutting out Eleanor’s frantic screams, I took a deep, steady breath of the quiet, beautiful home that was truly mine.
Little did I know, down in the city, Dominic’s defense attorney was about to file a desperate motion that would drag a shocking, hidden secret out into the open—one that would change everything.
