Chapter 3 - Cold Eviction
The morning sun rose over a blanket of sparkling white snow, casting long, sharp shadows across the Carter Estate.
Inside the master suite, panic had replaced the arrogance of the night before.
Victoria and Natalie had spent the entire night frantically calling high-society judges, corporate executives, and family friends, begging for someone to intervene. But every single call ended the same way. The moment the city's elite heard Ethan Carter's name attached to the dispute, they made excuses and hung up.
What my mother didn't realize was that the men she called—the powerful senators, the police commissioners, the bank presidents—didn't fear Ethan Carter the corporate executive. They feared the shadow lord who controlled the city's docks, security networks, and underground capital.
At 7:55 AM, heavy footsteps echoed down the grand hallway.
The door to the master suite was locked from the inside.
"Ethan!" Victoria screamed from behind the heavy oak door. "We are not leaving! This is my house! I will call the press! I will tell the entire world how you treat your own mother!"
I stood in the hallway, wearing a tailored charcoal suit, checking my watch.
"7:56 AM," I said calmly.
Standing behind me were six tall men in dark tactical attire, led by my second-in-command, Victor. Victor was a mountain of a man with a jagged scar running down his jaw—a veteran of the shadow wars I had fought across three continents to secure my empire.
"Victor," I said softly. "Remove the door."
Victor didn't bother using tools. He took two steps back and slammed his heavy combat boot directly into the frame beside the lock. The solid oak door splintered with a deafening CRACK and burst inward, swinging wildly on broken hinges.
Victoria and Natalie shrieked, retreating to the far corner of the plush king-sized bed, clutching designer silk robes around themselves.
"You savages!" Natalie screamed, tears ruinously streaking her makeup. "You can't do this! It's illegal!"
"The clock just struck 8:00 AM," I said, stepping over the broken wood into the room. "Your tenancy has expired."
Victor nodded to the men behind him. Within seconds, my operatives began pulling designer dresses, fur coats, and shoes from the walk-in closets, dumping them indiscriminately into large canvas storage bags.
"Stop! Touch my clothes and I'll have you arrested!" Victoria bellowed, lunging toward one of the guards.
Victor stepped smoothly into her path, his towering frame blocking her completely. He didn't raise a hand; he simply looked down at her with cold, dead eyes that had seen a hundred battlefields. Victoria froze, the breath catching in her throat as primal fear finally overwhelmed her greed.
"Your personal belongings will be placed on the curb outside the front gates," I told them. "Your bank cards linked to the Carter corporate account have already been frozen. Your luxury vehicles have been repossessed by the trust."
"Ethan... please," Victoria whimpered, her voice cracking as she realized her threats were useless. She fell to her knees on the Persian rug, reaching out to grab my trouser leg. "I'm your mother! I raised you! How can you leave me with nothing? Where are we supposed to go?"
I stepped back, letting her hand fall uselessly onto the floor.
"You can go wherever two hundred dollars in cash will take you," I said, pulling two crisp hundred-dollar bills from my wallet and tossing them onto the floor beside her. "Consider it your allowance for the month. Be thankful I don't charge you for the wine you drank last night."
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Ten minutes later, the grand wrought-iron gates of the Carter Estate slammed shut with a heavy metallic boom.
Standing on the slushy public sidewalk outside, surrounded by canvas bags of clothes, were Victoria and Natalie Carter. The bitter morning wind blew snow into their faces as neighbors in luxury sedans drove past, slowing down to stare at the disgraced socialites locked out of their own paradise.
