Chapter 3 - The Eviction
Julian and Victoria had assumed they were going to spend the afternoon celebrating their new life together. Instead, they returned to their luxury downtown penthouse to find a severe, unsmiling man in a cheap suit waiting by the concierge desk.
It was a process server.
Through mutual friends, I heard exactly how the scene played out. Julian had stormed into the lobby, screaming at the concierge about a deactivated keycard.
"Mr. Hayes?" the process server asked, stepping forward and pressing a manila envelope into Julian's chest. "You have thirty days to vacate the premises."
Victoria snatched the envelope. "What is this? We lease this apartment!"
"You lease it from Apex Solutions," the process server corrected flatly. "It is a corporate asset. And as of noon today, the board has revoked Mr. Hayes's corporate housing privileges."
They had nowhere to go. Julian’s personal bank accounts were suddenly frozen pending the final asset division, and his company credit cards had been terminated by Marcus’s legal team.
Victoria, who had envisioned a life of country clubs, private jets, and limitless shopping sprees, was suddenly staring at a man who couldn't even pay for a taxi to a hotel.
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That night, as I sat in my mother's warm, cozy living room, eating soup and feeling the baby kick against my ribs, my phone lit up with twelve missed calls from Victoria.
I blocked her number, finished my dinner, and slept better than I had in a year.
