Chapter 12 - The Eviction Day
The thirty-day notice expired on a crisp Friday morning in late January.
The local sheriff's deputy stood on the front driveway of the sprawling Oakridge estate, holding the court-issued writ of possession. Ethan, Sarah Jenkins, and a team of professional movers stood behind him.
The front door opened, and Diane stepped out.
She looked completely diminished. Her designer clothes were rumpled, her hair unstyled, and her eyes hollow. Behind her, Natalie was frantically stuffing designer handbags into the trunk of a rented sedan.
"You're really doing this," Diane said, her voice raspy as she stared at Ethan. "You're kicking your own mother out in the cold."
"You kicked yourself out the night you laid hands on my wife," Ethan replied, standing firm beside the deputy. "You have two hours to clear your personal belongings. Anything left behind will be donated or cleared by the movers."
Natalie ran over, crying frantically. "Ethan! Please! I don't have anywhere to go! The repo agency took my car yesterday! My bank account is frozen!"
"You're thirty-two years old, Natalie," Ethan said, looking at his sister without a trace of sympathy. "It's time you got a full-time job and paid for your own life."
Arthur came out of the house carrying two suitcases containing his clothes and personal books. He didn't look at Diane. He walked straight past her, loaded his bags into Ethan’s SUV, and sat in the passenger seat.
"Arthur!" Diane shrieked, running toward the car. "You coward! You're leaving me?!"
Arthur rolled down his window slightly. "I spent thirty years living in fear of your secrets, Diane. Today, I'm taking my life back."
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As Ethan drove the SUV down the driveway, I looked through the side mirror.
Diane stood in the middle of the empty driveway surrounded by cardboard boxes, shouting curses into the cold air as the movers began changing the locks on the front door.
