Chapter 8 - A NEW CHAPTER IN THE BERKSHIRES
Within twenty minutes, the illusion of my family’s perfection completely shattered.
From my vantage point inside the north shore estate, watching the live security feed on Grandpa’s study monitor, I saw the moving trucks arrive at the Elm Street house. Lauren was standing on the front lawn in her pajamas, screaming into her phone while a sheriff's deputy supervised her carrying two small plastic garbage bags of clothes toward a taxi cab she had been forced to call herself. Mom was locked inside the master bedroom, refusing to open the door until the deputies threatened to break it down with a battering ram.
The internet-famous lifestyle they had curated—the brunch photos, the luxury vacations, the designer clothes—was built entirely on stolen sand.
Mrs. Gable walked into the study, carrying a fresh tray of pastries and setting them gently on the desk before looking at me with a warm, sympathetic smile.
"How are you holding up, Madison?" she asked softly.
"I feel like I’m breathing fresh air for the first time in years," I admitted, looking down at Noah, who was cooing softly in his bassinet, entirely oblivious to the legal warfare raging over his future.
Grandpa walked over, placing a gentle hand on my head. "The house on Elm Street is being listed for sale this afternoon. All proceeds will go into a newly minted, un-hackable trust exclusively for Noah’s education. As for your cottage in the Berkshires, the locks have been changed, the security system upgraded, and the title is safely back in your hands."
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"Grandpa... I don't even know how to thank you," I whispered, feeling the tears well up again, but this time they were tears of profound, overwhelming relief.
"You don't need to thank me, Madison," Grandpa replied, his eyes softening as he looked down at his great-grandson. "You just need to remember who you are. You are a Sterling. And nobody—not your mother, not your sister, and certainly not anyone else—will ever treat you like a second-class citizen again."
