Chapter 5 - The Grand Opening Nightmare
The seizure of Holloway Home & Tool was scheduled for a Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM.
Lucas and I drove past the store just to witness the final chapter of the Holloway reign. A bright orange notice from the county sheriff's department was plastered across the front glass doors: CLOSED BY COURT ORDER - ASSETS FROZEN PENDING LITIGATION.
A small crowd of locals had gathered across the street, drinking coffee and watching as federal bankruptcy trustees and county bailiffs carried boxes of paperwork out of the administrative offices.
Warren and Elaine were standing near the curb, looking disheveled and frantic. Warren’s expensive suit jacket was unbuttoned, his tie crooked, his face flushed a dangerous shade of purple. Elaine looked like a ghost, her hair unbrushed, her expensive sunglasses missing.
When they saw Lucas's SUV pull over to the side of the road, Warren marched across the asphalt, his finger pointed aggressively at my window.
I rolled the window down halfway, looking out at the man who had terrorized my childhood and tried to discard my daughter like trash.
"You did this!" Warren screamed, spittle flying from his lips as he slammed his palm against the door frame. "You destroyed forty years of hard work! You ruined our lives over a brat's nap!"
"You ruined your own lives the moment you decided my daughter's life was worth less than a beauty pageant trophy," I said, my voice level and icy. "And you stole four hundred thousand dollars of my grandmother's inheritance. Did you really think there wouldn't be a reckoning?"
"We are your parents!" Elaine wailed, rushing up behind Warren and grabbing at the window frame. "We raised you! We gave you a roof over your head!"
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"You gave me a cage," I corrected her sharply. "And you gave my daughter a dumpster. Enjoy the bankruptcy, Warren. Enjoy your day in court."
Lucas put the car in drive, and as we pulled away, I watched in the rearview mirror as Warren collapsed onto the pavement, his head in his hands, while Elaine screamed curses into the empty air. The Holloway empire had finally crumbled to dust.
