By four o'clock in the afternoon, two local police cruisers pulled up outside the wrought-iron front gates of the property.
A black luxury sedan was parked right behind them, its hazard lights flashing under the bright sun.
Mark, Clara, and Mr. Vance walked down the long paved driveway to meet the officers.
Arthur was standing beside his sedan, flanked by a young junior lawyer in a cheap navy suit.
Arthur: Officer! That's the man right there! He physically assaulted me inside my residence!
Officer Ramirez, a tall veteran cop with a thick mustache, held up a hand to quiet Arthur down.
Officer Ramirez: Sir, calm down and let us review the documentation first.
Arthur: I don't need documentation! Look at my face! My cheek is still red!
Mark: Officer Ramirez, here is the certified property deed registered with the county clerk today.
Mr. Vance stepped forward, handing the blue folder directly to Officer Ramirez through the metal gate bars.
Mr. Vance: My name is Thomas Vance, senior partner at Vance & Associates. I represent Mr. Mark Sterling, the sole legal owner of this property.
Arthur's Lawyer: Officer, my client claims he was illegally locked out of his rightful residence without a ninety-day written notice!
Mr. Vance: Your client was not a tenant, counsellor. He was the former mortgage holder whose property was lawfully foreclosed upon and sold at public bank auction at ten o'clock this morning.
Arthur's Lawyer: That auction was fraudulent! We filed an emergency stay!
Mr. Vance: Your stay was rejected by Judge Harris at eleven-fifteen due to lack of escrow funds. Here is the judge's signed denial order.
Arthur's lawyer took the paper, scanned it quickly, and looked back at Arthur with an embarrassed frown.
Arthur's Lawyer: Arthur... you didn't tell me the judge denied the stay order.
Arthur: He was supposed to sign it! He's a friend of my golf club president!
Officer Ramirez: Sir, if the judge denied the stay, you are currently trespassing on private property.
Arthur: Trespassing?! I lived in that house for twenty years!
Mark: You lived there on my father's money, Arthur. And today you laid a hand on my family's peace.
Officer Ramirez: Mr. Sterling, do you wish to press charges for trespassing and disorderly conduct?
Mark: I won't press criminal trespass charges today on one condition, officer.
Arthur: You don't grant me conditions, you insolent little brat!
Officer Ramirez: Quiet down, sir, or I will put you in handcuffs right now for breach of peace!
Mark: My condition is that Arthur signs a formal voluntary surrender of all personal fixtures left in the house and leaves the state line by midnight.
Arthur: My fixtures?! There are antique paintings in that dining room worth fifty thousand dollars!
Mr. Vance: Those paintings were purchased with funds embezzled from the Sterling Family Trust, Arthur. Federal agents have already placed a freeze order on all assets within the estate perimeter.
Arthur's face turned completely ghost-white. The fiery arrogance that had defined him for years drained away in an instant.
Arthur: Federal... federal agents?
Mr. Vance: Special Agent Miller from the financial crimes division is waiting for you at the district court building downtown.
Arthur's Lawyer: Arthur, do not say another word. We need to go to my office right now.
Officer Ramirez: You heard your attorney, sir. Get back into your vehicle and clear the driveway entrance immediately.
Arthur looked through the iron bars of the gate at Mark, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Arthur: Mark... please... we're family. You can't let them put me in prison at my age!
Mark: You stopped treating us like family the moment you turned on my wife and child, Arthur.
Arthur: I was stressed! I was under immense pressure from the bank lenders!
Mark: That was your choice. And these are your consequences.
Officer Ramirez opened the door of Arthur's sedan, escorting the broken old man into the passenger seat.
The car engine started up with a low rumble, and the black sedan slowly backed out of the driveway under the watchful eye of the police cruisers.
Clara leaned her head against Mark's arm as they watched the red taillights disappear down the sunlit street.
Clara: It's really over, isn't it?
Mark: Yes, honey. The dark cloud over this family is finally gone.