Chapter 17 - The Ashes of an Empire
Within forty-eight hours of the verdict, the physical dismantling of the Bennett dynasty began.
The sprawling corporate headquarters downtown was rebranded under the new leadership of David Miller’s firm, absorbing the regional assets and locking out the old guard entirely. Security personnel escorted Richard and Evelyn out of the executive wing for the very last time, carrying their personal belongings in cheap cardboard boxes.
They had no company car, no multi-million-dollar pension, and no social standing left in Willow Creek. Their former associates and high-society friends—people who had fawned over them at charity galas—suddenly stopped returning their phone calls.
Evelyn attempted to reach out to me once, sending a desperate, tear-stained email pleading for a “family settlement” to help them pay for a modest apartment.
I looked at the message on my computer screen, remembered the cold look in her eyes as she locked us out in the freezing rain, and hit Delete.
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Some doors, once closed by cruelty, are never opened again.
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