Chapter 9 - The Crumbling Dynasty
By Friday, the walls had completely caved in on the Miller household.
Arthur Miller, bolstered by the Vance legal team’s guarantee of personal protection, formally filed for divorce from Eleanor. He signed an affidavit detailing her forgery of the home equity loan and turned state’s witness against his wife in exchange for immunity from her fraudulent schemes.
With Arthur’s cooperation, the bank initiated immediate foreclosure proceedings on the suburban house. The locks were scheduled to be changed by the sheriff’s department on Monday morning.
Chloe, meanwhile, was drowning in the wake of her internet infamy. Her apartment landlord served her an eviction notice after neighbors complained about the constant media stakeouts outside her building. Worse, the legal notices from her former corporate sponsors had arrived: three breach-of-contract lawsuits demanding a total of ninety-four thousand dollars in damages for brand disparagement.
At four o’clock, a preliminary settlement conference was called in the county prosecutor’s private chambers.
Eleanor sat across the wide conference table in an orange inmate jumpsuit, her wrists cuffed to a chain around her waist. Her hair was greasy and unkempt; the arrogant matriarch was entirely gone, replaced by a twitching, hollow-eyed shell. Chloe sat beside her public defender, trembling, clutching a paper cup of water like a lifeline.
Marcus Vance slid a single set of legal documents across the table.
"Here are the terms of the Vance family’s position," Marcus announced. "First: Eleanor Miller enters an immediate guilty plea to felony destruction of property, third-degree burglary, and state-level forgery. The Vance family will recommend a split sentence of four years in state prison, with no early parole eligibility."
Eleanor let out a choked gasp. "Four years?! I’m your mother, Mia! You can't put me in a cage!"
"Be quiet, Eleanor," the public defender hissed, putting a hand on her arm.
"Second," Marcus continued without missing a beat, "Eleanor signs an unconditional waiver forfeiting any claim to the Miller estate or Arthur’s retirement assets, which will be liquidated to satisfy the foreclosure and restitution. Third: Chloe Miller signs a binding, irrevocable non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreement, accompanied by a permanent restraining order forbidding her from coming within five hundred yards of Mia Vance, Daniel Vance, or any Vance property."
Marcus leaned forward, his gaze boring into Eleanor. "If you refuse this plea by five p.m. today, the federal prosecutor in the Eastern District will unseal the indictment for the four-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar trust fund embezzlement. That carries a mandatory minimum of twelve years in federal penitentiary. Choose."
Eleanor turned her bloodshot eyes to Mia, who sat silently at the end of the table beside Daniel.
"Mia... please," Eleanor wheezed, tears finally spilling down her hollow cheeks. "I did it for your sister. I did it for our family. You were always so strong, Mia... you didn't need the money like Chloe did! Chloe is fragile! Have mercy on your own mother!"
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Mia looked straight into the eyes of the woman who had terrorized her childhood.
"You never had mercy on me, Eleanor," Mia said, using her mother’s first name for the first time in her life. "Sign the paper. Or spend the next decade in federal prison. I don't care either way."
