Chapter 21: Homeless?

The landline receiver slipped from Evelyn Carmichael’s trembling fingers.

She stood frozen, her eyes wide, the color draining from her face.

Jude Lawson?

The man she had endlessly mocked for wearing cheap suits.

The man she had explicitly ordered out of her house just a few days ago, telling him he would never be worthy of her daughter.

"Mom?" Chloe called out from the living room, annoyed by the sudden noise. "What did you drop?"

Evelyn snapped out of her stupor.

A wild energy surged through her veins. She sprinted into the living room, clutching the edge of the sofa where Chloe was sulking.

"Chloe!" Evelyn gasped, out of breath. "We are saved! We are going to be richer than the Belmonts!"

Chloe looked up, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What are you talking about? Belmont Enterprises is going bankrupt. Trent won’t even return my texts."

"Forget Trent!" Evelyn shrieked, waving her hands. "I just received a call from the Senior Counsel of Apex Media Group! They are hiring Carmichael Events to handle the mainland logistics for a massive summer gala at Sapphire Cove! It’s a multi-million-dollar commission! And do you know who the new owner of Apex Media is?"

Chloe blinked. "Sapphire Cove? That’s impossible. Who?"

Evelyn grabbed Chloe by the shoulders. "It’s Jude! Jude Lawson!"

Chloe’s heart stopped.

Jude?

The viral videos, the rumors floating around the city about a mysterious new billionaire, the sudden collapse of Trent’s family business... it all clicked into place.

Jude was the titan the entire city had been whispering about!

"He... he’s a billionaire?" Chloe whispered, a sudden wave of nausea washing over her as she realized what she had thrown away.

"Don’t you see what this means, Chloe?!" Evelyn laughed, pacing the living room. "He bought an entertainment empire and an exclusive private island! And the very first thing he does with his power is throw a multi-million-dollar lifeline to our failing business!"

"He’s giving us the contract," Chloe murmured, a smug smile creeping onto her face.

"Exactly!" Evelyn clapped her hands together. "He is still obsessed with you! He’s throwing his millions at us because he’s desperate for your forgiveness! He probably hid his wealth to test you, and now he realizes he can’t survive without you."

Chloe felt a surge of power.

Trent had dumped her, leaving her feeling worthless, but now?

The most powerful man in the city was crawling back to her doorstep, handing her family millions of dollars just to get her attention!

"I always knew he had potential," Chloe said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I’ll make him apologize for putting me through all this stress, of course. But once we are back together, the Carmichael family will practically own this city. We don’t need the Belmonts at all."

"Oh, we are going to be royalty," Evelyn agreed. "Go put on some makeup! His lawyer is coming over right now to finalize the paperwork!"

Thirty minutes later, a black corporate SUV pulled up to the curb outside the Carmichael residence.

Evelyn was already standing by the front door, wearing her most expensive dress.

When Victoria Vance stepped out of the vehicle holding a leather briefcase, Evelyn threw the door open and rushed down the walkway, beaming as if she were greeting an old friend.

"Welcome, welcome!" Evelyn gushed, extending both hands. "Please, come inside! Can I get you some tea? Or perhaps champagne? We are just so thrilled!"

Victoria offered a nod and stepped past the older woman into the house.

Chloe was waiting in the living room, sitting on the sofa with perfect posture, wearing a designer dress she couldn’t actually afford.

She offered Victoria a knowing smile.

"Please, Ms. Vance, have a seat," Chloe said smoothly. "And you can tell Jude he didn’t need to be so formal with his lawyers. We are family. I am more than willing to speak with him directly."

Victoria stopped in the center of the living room.

She placed her briefcase onto the coffee table and popped the golden latches.

"Mrs. Carmichael. Miss Carmichael," Victoria said. "I believe you have misunderstood the nature of this transaction."

Evelyn’s smile faltered. "I’m sorry?"

"Mr. Lawson is not your family," Victoria corrected bluntly, pulling a stack of contracts from the briefcase. "And he has no interest in speaking with you, nor does he possess any lingering affection for you. He did not select your firm out of a desire for reconciliation."

Chloe felt the smug confidence drain from her body, replaced by a sudden knot of dread. "Then... why is he giving us the contract?"

"He selected Carmichael Events because he required a local vendor desperate enough to accept his specific operational terms without negotiation," Victoria stated, laying the contract flat on the table and handing Evelyn a pen.

Evelyn swallowed hard, her hands shaking slightly as she looked down at the paper. "What... what operational terms?"

Victoria adjusted her glasses, looking down at the two women with pity.

"The commission structure outlined in Section Four is incredibly generous," Victoria explained. "Upon completion, your firm will be paid three million dollars. It is more than enough to clear your vendor debts and save this house from foreclosure."

Evelyn let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

Three million dollars... They were saved.

"However," Victoria continued, her voice hardening, "Section Five outlines the performance requirements. As the contracted mainland logistics team, Carmichael Events is strictly prohibited from stepping foot on the corporate jets or Sapphire Cove."

Chloe frowned. "Wait, we aren’t invited to the gala?"

"You are not guests, Miss Carmichael," Victoria said, her tone razor-sharp. "You are the service staff. Mr. Lawson explicitly required that the owners of Carmichael Events must facilitate the mainland boarding process."

"You will be standing on the tarmac for eight hours," Victoria detailed, locking eyes with Chloe. "You will be unloading the luggage of the Apex Media executives. You will be checking coats, tagging bags, and parking the cars of the A-list actresses who *are* invited to the island."

"He wants me to be a baggage handler?!" Chloe shrieked, jumping up from the sofa. "For a party I’m not even allowed to attend?! I won’t do it! I refuse!"

Evelyn looked like she was going to be sick.

Jude wasn’t trying to win them back...

He was forcing them into manual labor to serve his new elite social circle, purely to humiliate them.

"You are free to refuse the contract," Victoria said, closing her empty briefcase and snapping the latches shut. "If you do not accept this three-million-dollar lifeline today, Carmichael Events will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday. The bank will seize this house by the end of the month."

Victoria stepped away from the table, walking toward the front door.

She paused in the entryway, looking back at the devastated mother and daughter.

"Mr. Lawson wanted to ensure that you both got a front-row seat to the lifestyle you threw away," Victoria said. "Sign the contract, or lose your house. The choice is yours."

Victoria walked out the front door.

Evelyn stared at the contract sitting on her coffee table.

Just five minutes ago, she had believed this piece of paper was a golden ticket...

A romantic plea from a billionaire begging to be let back into their family.

She had thought Carmichael Events was selected because of her stellar reputation in the local community.

"Mom," Chloe whispered, her voice trembling as she sank back down onto the sofa, burying her face in her hands. "I can’t do it. I can’t stand on a dock in a uniform and carry luggage for A-list actresses. The paparazzi will be there! If anyone recognizes me, I’ll be a laughingstock!"

Evelyn’s hands were shaking.

She looked around the beautifully decorated living room, at the imported chandeliers and the expensive furniture she had bought on credit.

If she didn’t sign this contract, all of it would be auctioned off by the bank in less than thirty days.

She would be homeless.

"We don’t have a choice," Evelyn croaked, her throat bone-dry.

She picked up the expensive fountain pen Victoria had left on the table.

With a trembling hand, Evelyn signed her name on the dotted line, binding herself and her daughter to act as manual laborers for the man she had thrown out of her house like garbage.

When she finished signing, Evelyn dropped the pen. It rolled off the table and hit the carpet.

"How could he do this?" Evelyn muttered. "He’s just an employee! Trent said it himself! Jude is just a broke loser who got hired as a frontman for a viral marketing stunt!"

Chloe looked up, her makeup slightly smeared from her tears. "Mom... Trent’s family is bankrupt. Jude bought Zenith Motors out from under them."

"He didn’t buy anything!" Evelyn shrieked in denial, pacing the room. "Don’t you see, Chloe? This is just some new corporate boss pulling strings! Jude probably begged his employer to give us this contract just so he could lord it over us. He’s abusing whatever little scrap of authority his boss gave him!"

Evelyn stopped pacing, her eyes lighting up with a spark of hope.

"That’s it!" Evelyn gasped, clapping her hands together. "When we get to the dock next week, you can talk to his real boss. You can explain that Jude is using company funds to carry out a petty personal vendetta against his ex-fiancée. We can get Jude fired, and maybe his boss will take an interest in you!"

Chloe stared at her mother, feeling a sudden knot of dread forming in the pit of her stomach.

She couldn’t accept that a kid in a cheap suit was now a titan...

But Chloe wasn’t so sure anymore.

Victoria was a Senior Partner at one of the most ruthless corporate law firms on the East Coast.

Women like her didn’t act as errand runners for "proxies" or low-level employees.

"Mom... stop," Chloe whispered, her hands shaking as she pulled her smartphone out of her designer purse.

"I’m telling you, Chloe, this is our chance to expose him!" Evelyn continued, ignoring her daughter. "We just need to find out who really owns Apex Media Group! Once we find the real billionaire, we—"

"I said stop!" Chloe yelled, her voice cracking.

Evelyn flinched, staring at her daughter in shock. "Chloe, what is wrong with you?"