Chapter 5 - THE SURPRISE GUEST
Before Thalia could march up the stairs to physically drag me back into my room, a heavy knock echoed against the front door.
Not the polite, hesitant knock of a late guest.
The sharp, authoritative rap of someone who had official business to conduct.
Desmond frowned, setting his wine bottle down on the glass coffee table. “Are we expecting someone else, Thalia?”
“No,” she snapped, her eyes still fixed on me with murderous fury. “The catering crew already left. Who could that possibly be?”
She turned and yanked the front door open, expecting perhaps a late-arriving executive or a delivery mix-up.
Instead, standing on the porch under the yellow porch light were two men in dark suits. One of them held a large, thick manila envelope tucked neatly under his arm.
“Good evening,” the taller man said, flashing a silver badge before slipping it back into his jacket pocket. “Is Mr. Desmond Sterling and Mrs. Thalia Sterling residing at this address?”
The entire living room went dead silent. The background jazz music playing from the Sonos speakers sounded jarringly cheerful against the sudden tension in the room.
Arthur, the silver-haired VP from Apex Corp, stepped back slightly, his wine glass hovering inches from his lips. “Is there a problem, officer?”
“Civil process service and county inquiry,” the man replied smoothly, stepping past Thalia into the entryway without waiting for an invitation.
Thalia stumbled backward, her hands flying to her chest. “You can’t just walk in here! This is private property! Desmond, do something!”
Desmond hurried over, his face pale and slick with sweat. “Look, badge number whatever-you-are, I don't know what this is about, but we’re hosting a private corporate dinner—"
“Mr. Desmond Sterling?” the process server interrupted, holding out the thick manila envelope.
Desmond stared at it as if it were a venomous snake. “Yes?”
“You’ve been served.”
The server pressed the papers directly into Desmond’s limp hands, then pulled a smaller tablet from his pocket. “And Mrs. Thalia Sterling?”
Thalia backed away until she hit the wall beneath the coat rack. “I’m not signing anything! Get out of this house right now!”
“Doesn't matter if you sign, ma'am. Service is completed under New York state law.” The server tapped his tablet screen, confirming GPS coordinates and delivery timestamps. “You are both officially notified of a federal injunction regarding fraudulent asset transfer, property lien invalidation, and emergency civil freezing of corporate and personal accounts associated with Apex Solutions and residential real estate parcel 402-B.”
Arthur dropped his wine glass.
May you like
It shattered against the white staging rug, dark red Pinot Noir splashing across the expensive fabric like blood.
“Apex Solutions?” Arthur’s voice cut through the silence, sharp and dangerous. He turned his glare onto Desmond, whose face had turned the color of curdled milk. “Desmond... isn't that the shell company you claimed was fully capitalized when you applied for our regional director position last month?”
