Chapter 3 - THE ATTORNEY AT THE GATE
Derek returned to the mansion at 2:18 the next afternoon.
Audrey knew because the gate camera sent the footage directly to her phone.
She sat in Nathan’s conference room with Maisie sleeping nearby while Derek’s black Mercedes stopped outside the iron gates.
Sienna sat in the passenger seat.
That surprised Audrey.
Lorraine was in the back.
That surprised her less.
Nathan stood near the conference-room television.
“Ready?”
Audrey nodded.
On screen, Derek lowered his window.
An attorney from Nathan’s firm approached.
“Mr. Halston?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Rebecca Sloan. I represent Audrey Vance.”
Derek’s face tightened.
“What is this?”
Rebecca handed him a thick envelope.
“Notice of revocation of residential permission, preservation notice relating to suspected fraudulent conveyance, and notice regarding restricted access to separate property.”
Derek stared at her.
“Speak English.”
“You no longer have Audrey Vance’s permission to occupy this residence.”
Lorraine immediately leaned forward.
“That is my son’s house.”
Rebecca remained polite.
“No, ma’am.”
Sienna slowly turned toward Derek.
“What?”
He ignored her.
“This is marital property.”
“No, sir.”
“I’ve lived here six years.”
“That does not change title.”
Derek tore open the envelope.
Audrey watched his eyes move across the first page.
His face changed.
There it was.
The moment promised by fourteen years of entitlement.
Confusion.
Then disbelief.
Then fear.
Sienna leaned toward him.
“What does it say?”
“Nothing.”
“Derek.”
“Stay out of it.”
She grabbed the document from his hand.
He tried to stop her.
Too late.
Sienna read the heading.
Then looked at the mansion.
Then at him.
Her voice was barely audible through the gate microphone.
“You told me this house belonged to you.”
Derek’s face hardened.
“It basically does.”
Rebecca corrected him.
“It legally does not.”
Lorraine opened the rear door.
“This is ridiculous.”
Rebecca turned.
“Mrs. Halston, I also have documents for you.”
Lorraine stopped.
“What?”
“Regarding Halston Property Management LLC.”
For the first time, Lorraine looked genuinely frightened.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Rebecca held out another envelope.
“A deed submission was made through your company bearing what appears to be my client’s unauthorized signature.”
Lorraine didn’t take the envelope.
Derek looked back at her.
“Mom?”
“Don’t say anything.”
That was interesting.
Derek frowned.
“What did you file?”
Lorraine snapped:
“Nothing that concerns her lawyer.”
Rebecca said calmly, “It concerns several lawyers now.”
Sienna opened her door.
“I’m leaving.”
Derek grabbed her wrist.
“Sit down.”
She jerked free.
“Don’t touch me.”
Audrey watched without satisfaction.
Sienna had participated in betraying another woman inside her bedroom.
But the look on her face now suggested she had believed a very different story.
Sienna stepped away from the car.
“You told me Audrey had abandoned you.”
“She did.”
“You said she left before the baby was born.”
Lorraine hissed:
“Sienna, stop.”
Sienna looked at her.
“And you told me Audrey was in some psychiatric clinic.”
Audrey stopped breathing.
Nathan slowly turned toward her.
“What?”
On screen, Derek went white.
Lorraine’s face became furious.
“Sienna.”
But Sienna was already unraveling.
“You said Derek had emergency custody.”
Audrey’s heart slammed.
Nathan reached for his phone.
Sienna continued:
“You said Audrey signed the house over because she couldn’t take care of herself.”
Rebecca’s expression changed.
This was no longer merely a property dispute.
Nathan whispered:
“They’ve been constructing incapacity.”
Audrey looked down at Maisie.
Suddenly every strange moment from the final month of pregnancy came back.
Lorraine suggesting Audrey was “forgetful.”
Derek telling friends she seemed overwhelmed.
A doctor Audrey didn’t know calling to ask about anxiety.
Derek volunteering to handle her medications after delivery.
Not concern.
Documentation.
Audrey whispered:
“They were going to make me look incompetent.”
Nathan was already typing.
At the gate, Derek shouted at Sienna:
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Sienna looked at him with disgust.
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“Yes, I do.”
She reached into her purse.
“I recorded your mother.”
Lorraine froze.
May you like
Sienna held up her phone.
“And Audrey needs to hear it.”
