Chapter 4

The guards were efficient. Chloe' s shrieks and the children' s cries faded as they were unceremoniously escorted out the front door and onto the street. Their luggage, which had been sitting in the foyer, was tossed out after them.

Eleanor was shaking with rage. "You... you witch! How could you do this? After everything we' ve done for you!"

"Everything you' ve done for me?" I laughed. "Let' s talk about that, Eleanor."

I turned to the housekeeper, Maria, and the rest of the staff who had gathered at the edge of the hall, watching the drama unfold.

"Maria," I said. "Who pays your salary?"

Maria, a woman who had worked for the Millers for twenty years, looked at Eleanor, then at me. Her loyalty was clear. "You do, Ms. Sullivan."

"And whose picture is on the 'Employee of the Year' plaque in the kitchen?"

"Yours, Ms. Sullivan. For the bonus you gave us all last Christmas when you saved the company."

I turned back to the remaining Millers. Michael, Eleanor, Ben, and Sarah. They looked like statues in a museum of fallen gods.

"This house," I said, sweeping my arm to encompass the grand hall, "was about to be repossessed by the bank three years ago, along with every other asset this family owned. I am the one who negotiated with the creditors. I am the one who sold my own family' s stock portfolio, the inheritance from my father, to inject capital into the company."

I walked over to the fireplace, picking up the heavy, ornate urn.

"I am the one who bought this house back from the brink. The deed is in one name, and one name only: Ava Sullivan."

I let that sink in.

"You," I said, pointing at Eleanor, "have been living here, rent-free, on my charity. Your credit card bills, your shopping sprees, your driver... I pay for all of it."

I turned to Ben. "Your fancy apartment downtown? The down payment came from a 'company loan' that I approved and that you have never made a single payment on. Your engagement to that heiress is built on a lie. You have no status without the money I provide."

Then, I faced Sarah. "And you. Your law school tuition, your car, your 'networking' dinners at five-star restaurants. Who do you think has been funding your little power plays?"

Eleanor' s face was pale. "You... you wouldn' t dare."

Ben' s usual smirk was gone, replaced by a look of dawning horror. "This is a family company. It' s our birthright."

Sarah chimed in, her voice shaking slightly. "A woman' s place is to support her husband' s family, not to take it over."

That was the last straw.

I thought of the nights I' d spent sleeping in my office, surviving on coffee and adrenaline. I thought of the miscarriage. I thought of the three years of my life I had sacrificed for their name, their legacy.

"The bank accounts are frozen as of this morning," I announced calmly. "The credit cards have been cancelled. The staff has been instructed not to follow any of your orders. You have one hour to pack a bag and get out of my house."

Outside, the reality of their new situation was hitting Michael and Chloe hard. They were used to a life of effortless luxury, funded first by his parents and then, unknowingly, by me.

Suddenly, they had no car, no driver, no money. Michael' s wallet contained cards that were now useless pieces of plastic. They were stranded on the pristine curb of a neighborhood that had no place for them.

Chloe, no longer the smug mistress, was in hysterics. The children, confused and scared, were crying loudly.

Michael, a man who had never had to solve a real problem in his life, was completely lost. He tried to call a luxury car service, only to have his payment declined.

This was the man who thought he could run a multi-million dollar corporation. He couldn' t even figure out how to get his new family to a hotel.

Eleanor had been using a slush fund, a secret account she' d set up years ago by skimming money from the company, to send Michael a generous allowance while he was "dead." She thought she was being clever, but I had discovered it months ago. That account was also empty.

The great Miller family was, for the first time in their lives, truly on their own. And they were utterly, pathetically helpless.