I FOUND OUT MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW THOUGHT I WAS POWERLESS IN MY OWN HOUSE, SO I STAYED QUIET. FIVE MINUTES LATER, ONE CRASH MADE MY SON RUN.

The following morning, news of the scandal broke across the city’s financial and social circles like a tidal wave.

“Mantra Tech Heir Evicted: Montgomery Empire Retaken by Founder’s Widow.”

The headlines were ruthless. The video footage from the kitchen—leaked not by Eleanor, but by an anonymous source within the police department—had gone viral overnight. The image of Bianca striking the elderly matriarch, followed by the revelation of David’s indifference, destroyed whatever standing the couple had left in high society.

At 10:00 AM, Bianca was released on a high monetary bail posted by her wealthy but disgraced parents. Dressed in oversized sunglasses and a trench coat to hide from the press waiting outside the detention center, she stormed into the lobby of the grand hotel where David had spent the night on a credit card his lawyer had lent him.

She kicked the door of the hotel suite open, her face twisted in rage.

"You weak, pathetic excuse for a man!" Bianca screamed, throwing her designer purse directly at David’s head. He ducked, letting it hit the wall behind him. "Your mother took everything! My jewelry, my clothes, my reputation—it’s all gone! The police locked our house! My father’s accounts are being audited because of her lawyers!"

David sat on the edge of the bed, looking hollowed out. Dark circles bruised the undersides of his eyes. "She didn't take your clothes, Bianca. Security packed your bags and left them at the gate. Everything else—the jewelry, the cars, the house—was bought with her trust's funds. It was never ours."

"You lied to me!" Bianca shrieked, coming closer and striking his chest with her fists. "You told me you were the owner of Montgomery Enterprises! You told me you inherited the estate!"

"I thought I did!" David yelled back, suddenly snapping. He grabbed her wrists, holding her off, his voice cracking with desperation. "I thought my father left it to me! I didn't know he put everything into a private discretionary trust managed by my mother! I didn't know she was the one bankrolling my failed investments!"

Bianca yanked her hands free, her lip curling in disgust. "You idiot. You stupid, weak little boy. You let an old woman trick you!"

"She didn't trick us, Bianca!" David shouted, tears of frustration pouring down his face. "We pushed her! You hit her! You struck my mother with a metal skillet in her own kitchen, and I... God help me, I turned up the TV!"

"She deserved it!" Bianca spat, completely unrepentant. "She was a parasite! She was holding us back!"

"She was keeping us alive!" David roared.

Before Bianca could reply, the suite door opened, and two uniformed bailiffs stepped inside, accompanied by a process server.

"David Montgomery? Bianca Montgomery?" the process server asked neutrally.

David swallowed hard. "Yes?"

"You have both been officially served," the man said, handing a thick sheaf of legal papers to each of them. "Mrs. Eleanor Montgomery has filed a civil suit for corporate fraud, conversion of trust assets, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Furthermore, Montgomery Enterprises’ Board of Directors has formally voted to terminate David Montgomery as CEO effective immediately."

Bianca stared at the legal summons in her hand, her confidence finally cracking into pure terror. "Termination? Civil suit? They can't do this!"

"They already did," the process server said flatly before turning and walking away.

David dropped the papers onto the floor. He looked at Bianca—the woman he had sacrificed his integrity for, the woman he had allowed to destroy his mother—and saw her for the first time without her polished mask. She was empty, cruel, and utterly doomed.

"Get out," David said quietly.