Chapter 4 - Eviction Notice from an Unknown Landlord
Rowan sank onto the hallway bench, burying his head in his hands. “What do you want, Phoebe? Are you going to send me to prison? Is that what this is? You marry me under a false name, hide your fortune, trap me, and now you want to ruin my life?”
“Trap you?” I stared at him, incredulous. “I married you because I loved you. I lived in this modest townhouse for three years. I cooked your meals, washed your clothes, supported your career, and never asked you for a single luxury. I hid my family’s name because I wanted our love to be real. You trapped yourself the moment you decided greed and arrogance were more important than loyalty.”
“And as for this house,” Gideon spoke up, his voice cutting through the heavy air like a razor. “You’ve lived here quite comfortably, haven’t you, Rowan?”
Rowan looked up, confused. “What does the house have to do with this? I pay the lease every month to Apex Property Holdings!”
“Apex Property Holdings,” Gideon said slowly, “is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sterling Real Estate Trust. I purchased this property three years ago through a blind trust so my daughter would have a safe, quiet home near her workplace.”
Rowan’s jaw dropped again. The realization that every single aspect of his life had been sheltered and subsidized by the very man he now feared seemed to crush what little spine he had left.
“You... you own the townhouse?” Rowan whispered.
“I do,” Gideon said. “And as the sole managing director of Apex Property Holdings, I have already instructed our legal team to terminate the residential lease immediately due to unauthorized commercial fraud conducted on the premises.”
From his coat pocket, Gideon produced a folded document and tossed it into Rowan’s lap.
“You have forty-eight hours to vacate,” Gideon said. “Take your mother, take your luggage, and take that watch. Because by Wednesday morning, the locks will be changed.”
“You’re throwing us on the street?!” Selina shrieked, her panic turning into rage. “My son pays rent here! You can’t just evict a tenant in forty-eight hours! That’s illegal! I know tenant laws!”
“Feel free to hire an attorney to dispute it, Mrs. Miller,” Gideon replied with a cold smile. “Our litigation team consists of forty-two senior partners. They bill eighteen hundred dollars an hour. Let’s see whose bank account runs dry first.”
Selina turned to Rowan, shaking his arm violently. “Rowan! Do something! Call your boss! Call Marcus at the firm!”
Rowan let out a dry, hysterical laugh. “Mom... Marcus reports to Sterling Capital’s board of directors. If Mr. Sterling calls Marcus, I don’t just lose my lease. I lose my license. I lose everything.”
“Then beg her!” Selina screamed, completely losing her composure. “Beg your wife! Fall on your knees, Rowan! You’re going to destroy us!”
Rowan slid off the bench onto the floor. He crawled across the hardwood, reaching for the hem of my dress. “Phoebe... please. Think of Leo. A boy needs his father. I’ll change. I’ll cut Mom off. I’ll never speak to her again if that’s what you want! Just don’t destroy my career. Don’t take my son away!”
I looked down at the man I had once believed would protect me forever. Seeing him grovel didn't bring me joy; it only brought a profound sense of relief that the illusion was finally broken.
“You wouldn’t even cut a birthday dinner short to see his birth, Rowan,” I said, stepping backward out of his reach. “Don’t pretend you’d cut your mother off for him now. Get up. You look pathetic.”
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Gideon walked over to the front door and pulled it wide open. The crisp autumn air swept into the hallway.
“Forty-eight hours, Rowan,” Gideon commanded. “If I see your face near my daughter or my grandson after that, the Department of Justice will receive a comprehensive audit file by noon. Now get out of my house.”
