Chapter 1: The Eviction Notice
The water in the pool was still settling, but the storm inside Marcus’s chest was just beginning. He held Elena tightly against his chest, her wet, blue dress clinging to her shivering, pregnant frame. Behind them, their six-year-old son, Leo, was still sobbing, clutching Marcus’s soaking-black suit jacket.
On the pool deck stood Victoria, adjusting her designer sunglasses as if the near-fatal drowning she had just caused was nothing more than an inconvenient spill.
"I told you, Marcus," Victoria said, her voice smooth, dripping with practiced aristocratic calm. "She slipped. The deck is wet. She’s clumsy."
"Shut up!" Marcus roared, his voice echoing off the concrete walls of the villa. He stepped out of the pool, water streaming from his clothes, his eyes locked onto his mother. "I saw your hands on her shoulders, Victoria. I saw the push."
Victoria’s posture stiffened, the mask of calm cracking just a fraction. "You choose to believe a girl from the streets over your own blood?"
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"This 'girl' is my wife. And that is my unborn daughter," Marcus whispered, the quietness of his voice far more dangerous than his screams. He pointed a dripping finger toward the massive glass doors of the estate. "Enjoy the villa one last time today, Mother. Because tomorrow at dawn, the locks are changing. You’re being evicted from my property. You leave with nothing."
Victoria stood frozen as Marcus carried Elena inside, leaving a trail of wet footprints—and a shattered family legacy—behind.
