Chapter 7 - The Auction Block
Over the next three weeks, the legal machinery moved with terrifying speed. With the criminal charges looming and their assets frozen by Arthur Sterling’s civil fraud lawsuit, my parents were drowning in legal bills.
Daniel Mercer moved swiftly to execute a total foreclosure on all personal contents inside the manor to satisfy the unpaid maintenance fees and structural damages outlined in their breached agreement.
On a bright, clear Tuesday morning, a massive auction banner was strung across the iron gates of 144 Drayton Manor Lane.
Savannah’s elite society—the very people my mother had spent decades trying to impress—flocked to the estate like vultures. Women in pearls and sunhats, antique dealers from Atlanta, and curious neighbors wandered through the rooms, inspecting Celeste’s cherished crystal, Raymond’s vintage golf clubs, and Brianna’s wardrobe of unworn designer gowns.
I sat in Daniel’s air-conditioned mobile office on the perimeter of the lawn, watching the auctioneer work the crowd.
""Lot number forty-two!"" the auctioneer called out over the loudspeaker. ""French Louis XIV gilded parlor mirror, authentic eighteen-eighty antique!""
""Two thousand!"" an antique dealer shouted.
""Twenty-five hundred!"" another woman called out.
Every strike of the gavel felt like a chain breaking from my past. The furniture that I had been forbidden to touch as a child, the rugs I had scrubbed on my hands and knees while Brianna played outside, the silverware I had polished until my fingers bled—all of it was being sold off to strangers for pennies on the dollar.
The net proceeds from the auction totaled over $340,000. Under the court order Daniel secured, every single cent was placed directly into an irrevocable medical and educational trust fund for Teddy.
Later that afternoon, Detective Alvarez met me at the edge of the courtyard. She held a thick legal binder under her arm.
""The grand jury returned a true bill this morning, Amelia,"" Alvarez said, handing me a copy of the indictment. ""Celeste and Raymond are facing three felony counts each. Brianna was offered a diversion plea agreement: two years of community service, five years of supervised probation, and mandatory anger management classes in exchange for testifying against your mother.""
I looked at Alvarez, surprised. ""Brianna took the deal?""
Alvarez let out a dry, humorless chuckle. ""She signed the plea within ten minutes of her court-appointed lawyer explaining the sentencing guidelines. She turned state’s evidence against her own mother without shedding a single tear. Loyalty doesn't run very deep in that circle.""
I shook my head slowly, not even shocked. In the end, Celeste had raised a daughter exactly like herself: calculating, selfish, and willing to sacrifice anyone to save her own skin.
""And my parents?"" I asked.
May you like
""The District Attorney is offering Celeste five years in state prison, with two to serve,"" Alvarez said. ""Your father is looking at eighteen months of house arrest and three hundred hours of community service due to his failing health. They have until Friday to accept the plea, or they go to trial before a jury.""
""They'll take the plea,"" I said with absolute certainty. ""Celeste Voss would rather spend two years in prison than sit in a public courtroom where the entire city of Savannah can hear the audio recording of what she did to a four-year-old boy.""
