Chapter 5 - The Eviction on Live Camera
The morning sun rose over the city, but for Arthur, Evelyn, and Chloe Vance, daylight brought no warmth—only exposure.
Chloe sat on the edge of a stained mattress in Room 114 of the highway motel, her eyes swollen to the size of golf balls. The mascara that had run down her cheeks last night had dried into dark, crusty streaks. Outside, the roar of eighteen-wheelers on the interstate shook the thin windowpanes.
"This is a nightmare," Chloe whimpered, pulling her ruined cashmere coat tighter around herself. "Mom, wake up and tell me this is a nightmare! Julian didn't dump me! We are going to have our wedding at the botanical gardens! Tell me!"
Evelyn was sitting in a broken plastic chair in the corner, staring blankly at the peeling floral wallpaper. She was still wearing her stained evening gown from the night before, the hem covered in mud and dried birthday cake. She hadn't spoken a word since the police forced her to drop her Louis Vuitton luggage on the wet pavement outside their former home.
"Arthur!" Chloe screamed, spinning around toward her father, who was pacing like a caged animal, chewing on his fingernails until they bled. "Do something! You’re the CEO of Sterling Crest! Call our board! Call the mayor! You played golf with the governor last month!"
"Shut up, Chloe!" Arthur roared, slamming his fist against the laminate desk. "Just shut up! The board won't take my calls! My secretary resigned at seven this morning! The company’s stock plunged eighty percent at the opening bell because Aegis Prime announced they were liquidating our shares!"
"Then we fight back!" Chloe cried, her eyes flashing with desperate, venomous mania. She snatched her cracked phone off the bedside table. "Marcus thinks he can destroy us? He’s a nobody who got lucky! I have three hundred thousand followers on Instagram! I’m an influencer! I’ll go live right now!"
"Chloe, don't—" Arthur began, but she was already hitting the broadcast button.
"No, Dad! Society needs to know what kind of monster he is!" Chloe hissed, her face instantly morphing into an exaggerated mask of victimhood.
The screen blinked: *LIVE: 12,450 viewers... 25,000 viewers...*
"Hi everyone," Chloe sobbed convincingly into the front-facing camera, letting fresh tears roll down her cheeks. "I am broadcasting from a terrifying, unsafe location. Last night, my family was violently attacked and driven from our home by my estranged brother, Marcus. He brought armed mercenaries to our house... all because my mother reprimanded his daughter for bad behavior! He has used corporate fraud to steal my father's company! He left us on the streets with nothing! Please, share this! We need justice against Marcus Vance and Aegis Capital!"
The comment section exploded in a blur of scrolling text:
*— "Wait, did she say Marcus Vance? The Marcus Vance?"*
*— "Reprimanded? A witness on Twitter said your mom slapped a six-year-old child!"*
*— "Look at her location, she's at the highway motel lmao"*
*— "Turn on the news! Turn on Channel 4 right now!"*
Chloe frowned, reading the rapidly shifting comments. "What? What are you guys talking about? Channel 4?"
Arthur lunged for the small, dusty television bolted to the motel wall, frantically pressing the power button.
The static cleared to reveal the face of Sarah Jenkins, the city’s premier investigative journalist, standing outside the federal courthouse.
*"...breaking news this morning in the high-profile collapse of Sterling Crest Holdings,"* the anchor announced, holding a stack of legal documents. *"Just moments ago, the United States Attorney’s Office issued an unsealed federal indictment against former CEO Arthur Vance. The charges include wire fraud, corporate embezzlement, and the grand larceny of over two million dollars from a private trust established for his minor granddaughter, Lily Vance."*
Arthur stumbled back, knocking over a lamp. "No... no, no, no..."
The broadcast cut to a high-definition video feed captured from the security cameras inside the Vance estate the previous afternoon.
On national television, in crystal-clear 4K resolution with crystal-clear audio, Evelyn Vance raised her hand and struck six-year-old Lily across the face. The sickening slap echoed through the television speakers. Then came Chloe’s screeching voice: *“You filthy bastard child, get out of my house!”*
The news anchor returned to the screen, her expression one of utter revulsion.
*"The video, released by the legal team representing Aegis Prime Capital, has sparked international outrage,"* the reporter said. *"Child advocacy groups are already staging protests, and the Montgomery family has officially severed all ties with Chloe Vance, confirming the cancellation of their upcoming nuptials. Furthermore, federal marshals are currently en route to execute an arrest warrant for Arthur Vance."*
Chloe dropped her phone. The live stream was still running.
Across the screen, hundreds of thousands of comments were pouring in:
*— "DISGUSTING MONSTERS!"*
*— "She slapped a baby over cake?!"*
*— "Lock them all up!"*
*— "Arthur stole the dead mom's trust fund? Scum of the earth!"*
Before Chloe could end the stream, the fragile motel door was kicked open with a thunderous crash.
"Federal Marshals! Nobody move! Arthur Vance, put your hands behind your back!"
Four armed federal agents swarmed the room. Arthur fell to his knees, weeping like a broken child as the cold steel handcuffs clicked around his wrists.
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Evelyn began screaming incoherently, clawing at the wall, while Chloe curled into a fetal position on the dirty floor, the live stream still capturing her public humiliation for millions of people across the globe.
***
