Chapter 12 - The Auction of a False Kingdom
On February fifteenth, the cold winter sun shone down on the marble steps of the County Superior Courthouse.
A small crowd of real estate investors, commercial brokers, and bank representatives gathered around the county auctioneer as he adjusted his microphone.
Standing on the opposite sidewalk, wrapped in cheap winter coats bought from a discount store, stood Richard and Evelyn Vance. They were haggard, broken, and shivering. Their grand suburban manor was on the auction block.
"We are now opening bidding for the real property located at 442 Crestview Manor Lane," the auctioneer announced in a rapid, booming cadence. "Opening bank reserve bid is set at $1,850,000."
Richard looked at the ground, tears freezing on his wrinkled cheeks.
Three weeks earlier, unable to find two million dollars, the family had been formally evicted by the county sheriff. Their remaining furniture and belongings had been piled onto the snowy front lawn while neighbors watched from their windows.
They had been forced to use the meager proceeds from selling Evelyn’s remaining jewelry to secure a tiny, rundown two-bedroom rental apartment sixty miles outside the city, located above a noisy commercial laundromat.
"Do I have one million, eight hundred and fifty thousand?" the auctioneer called out.
Harrison Cole stepped forward from the crowd, raising his bidding paddle with effortless calm. "One million, eight hundred and fifty thousand. Cash. On behalf of the Montgomery-Vance Holding Trust."
Richard’s head snapped up. His eyes widened in absolute horror. "Harlow..."
"Going once... going twice... sold to the Montgomery-Vance Trust for one million, eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars!" The auctioneer’s wooden gavel slammed down.
Harlow had bought their former kingdom with the spare cash reserves of her corporate holding entity.
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She hadn't bought it to live in. The following morning, commercial demolition permits were filed with the city. The grand, pretentious mansion where they had insulted, exploited, and humiliated her for years would be torn down to the foundation, and the sprawling eight-acre parcel of land would be converted into a state-of-the-art community botanical garden and open green sanctuary for the public.
The Vance family name was permanently erased from the land.
