Chapter 9 - The Fall of the Montgomery Empire
By 4:00 PM, the grand Montgomery estate looked like a battlefield after a rout.
Catering staff in black vests were quietly clearing away untouched plates of Chilean sea bass and uneaten caviar appetizers, their eyes darting nervously toward the front lawn where a continuous stream of luxury cars—Bentleys, Mercedes, and Porsches—were frantically peeling out through the iron gates. The high-society guests were fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, desperate to distance themselves from the Montgomery name before the Monday morning business journals hit the stands.
Senator Hastings had already issued a terse, icy press release from the back of his limousine, announcing the "regrettable and permanent termination" of his daughter's engagement due to "irreconcilable differences and ethical discrepancies within the Montgomery family enterprise."
Caroline’s million-dollar wedding was reduced to a trending hashtag on Twitter, with cell phone footage of Ethan walking away from the altar circulating to millions of viewers worldwide.
At the center of it all, Eleanor Montgomery sat alone on a white wooden chair beside the empty aisle. Her silver hair had come completely undone, strands of it blowing wildly across her tear-stained face. Her diamond jewelry seemed absurd now, sitting on the shoulders of a woman who had just been economically executed in front of her peers.
Two county sheriffs, accompanied by an officer of the Cook County civil court, walked slowly up the stone pathway toward her.
"Eleanor Montgomery?" the leading deputy asked, his voice entirely devoid of the reverence she had demanded her whole life.
Eleanor looked up, her gaze hollow. "Do you know who I am?" she crooned, a pathetic, dying rasp.
"Yes, ma'am," the officer replied, pulling an official notice of property repossession from his clipboard. "We have an emergency injunction issued by the Chicago Commercial Court. The deed to this property has been transferred to Vanguard Apex Real Estate Holdings. You have until midnight to collect your personal belongings."
"This is my house!" Eleanor screamed, her voice cracking as she tried to stand, her legs shaking violently. "My grandfather built this estate! You cannot evict a Montgomery!"
"The estate belongs to the trust, ma'am," the officer stated bluntly. "And the trust belongs to Ms. Sienna Vance. Please don't make this difficult."
Ethan walked up behind his mother. He had taken off his tuxedo jacket, tossing it carelessly over the back of an empty chair. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his hair a mess.
"Let it go, Mother," Ethan said softly.
Eleanor turned to him, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated venom. "You signed it! You gave it to her! You destroyed our family name for a South Side nobody!"
"You destroyed this family five years ago," Ethan replied, his voice chillingly calm. "When you told me Sienna had an abortion. When you paid that doctor to forge medical records so I wouldn't go looking for her. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
Eleanor choked, the air freezing in her throat. "Ethan... I did it for you... for the family..."
"You did it for yourself," Ethan whispered, stepping away from her. "Enjoy the hotel, Mother. Because that's the only place you'll be living from now on."
May you like
He didn't wait for her response. He turned his back on his mother for the first and last time in his life, walking away as the deputies gently, firmly escorted Eleanor Montgomery toward the iron gates she had ruled for half a century.
***
