Chapter 4 - The Final Reckoning and Selina’s Shock**
With Rowan locked away in a federal holding facility awaiting trial and facing a mandatory sentence of twelve to fifteen years without parole, the cleanup of our former life proceeded with terrifying speed and precision.
Divorce proceedings were filed under a sealed, expedited family law docket, granting me absolute, unhindered sole custody of baby Leo, alongside a court-ordered restraining order that prohibited Selina from coming anywhere within five hundred miles of my child or me.
Speaking of Selina, she had spent the first forty-eight hours after Rowan’s arrest calling my phone continuously, leaving hysterical, screaming voice messages demanding to know why her precious son had been dragged out of his office in handcuffs and why her monthly allowance had suddenly bounced.
She assumed, in her infinite narcissism, that she could simply show up at my suburban home, bang on the front door, and demand answers the way she always had.
She picked the wrong afternoon to test that theory.
It was a crisp Thursday afternoon. I was sitting on the back patio of our newly acquired waterfront estate on Mercer Island—a stunning, sprawling property my father had gifted to Leo and me as a fresh start—when the security intercom chimed from the front gates.
Through the video monitor, I saw Selina standing there in a lavish designer fur coat, her face twisted into an ugly mask of pure entitlement, banging her manicured fingernails against the iron gate while a local taxi waited idling in the driveway.
“Phoebe! Open this gate right this instant!” Selina screeched into the intercom speaker. “You have ruined my son’s life, you ungrateful little parasite! How dare you call the police on Rowan over a petty financial dispute? You open this door and explain yourself to me right now, or I swear I will make your life a living hell!”
I calmly pressed the intercom button.
“Selina,” I said, my voice projecting clearly through the speaker, dripping with absolute ice. “You’re trespassing on private property owned by Sterling Capital Holdings.”
Selina blinked at the camera, her screeching abruptly cutting off as her brain tried to process my words. “What are you talking about? This is Rowan’s house! My son owns this—well, he did own this until you stole it from him!”
“Rowan never owned a single brick of this estate,” I replied calmly. “In fact, as of yesterday afternoon, every single asset your son ever claimed to own—his car, his bank accounts, his retirement funds, and his precious designer wardrobe—has been legally seized by the federal government and my father’s legal team to repay the millions he embezzled from the corporate treasury.”
Selina’s jaw dropped so wide I thought it might unhinge. “That’s... that’s impossible. Rowan is a successful executive! He’s a self-made man!”
“He was a fraud,” I corrected sharply. “And as for you, Selina? Your monthly allowance check from Rowan’s ‘secret account’ bounced permanently three days ago. I suggest you call your friends and let them know you can no longer afford your country club dues. Because from here on out, you are entirely on your own.”
Before she could scream another insult, I clicked the intercom switch off, cutting her off completely.
Through the security feed, I watched with quiet satisfaction as Selina stood frozen at the gate for a few disoriented seconds before storming back into the waiting taxi, slamming the door so hard the driver immediately sped off down the winding road.
I set my tablet down, leaned back in the comfortable patio lounger, and listened to the gentle, soothing sound of the waves lapping against the shore of Lake Washington.
The woman who had once begged for scraps of affection and put up with toxic mistreatment was gone forever.
May you like
In her place stood a mother, an independent executive, and a woman who never needed anyone to validate her worth ever again.
---
