Chapter 3 - The Locks Are Changed Again
The rain had stopped by 8:00 AM the following morning, leaving the Boulder air crisp, clear, and frigid.
I stood beside Rachel in the driveway of my estate. Beside us was Mr. Marcus Vance—no relation to me, but the senior acquisitions director for Apex Capital—along with a locksmith, a team of six private security guards, and two uniformed officers from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.
"Mrs. Vance," Officer Harrison said, reviewing my original title deed, the paid-in-full mortgage release, and the signed purchase contract with Apex Capital. "We verified the property records. You are the sole legal owner of this residence. Your husband has no legal ownership interest listed on any county database."
"Correct," Rachel interjected, stepping forward with her briefcase open. "Furthermore, my client has filed a formal notice of unlawful lockout and an emergency petition for sole temporary custody of her infant child due to intentional abandonment and spousal endangerment. We are here to execute a lawful transfer of property access to the buyer, Apex Capital."
Mr. Marcus turned to the locksmith. "Drill out the keypads. Replace every deadbolt, garage motor code, and perimeter gate transmitter with our master commercial security system."
"Wait!"
A high-pitched voice screeched from the front porch. The heavy oak front door swung open, and Brooke’s husband, Mark—who Grant had left behind to "guard" the house while they were in Miami—stumbled out wearing his bathrobe, holding a coffee mug.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Mark yelled, his eyes widening in shock as he saw the security guards and police officers advancing up the stone steps. "Lena?! What are you doing? Grant told us you were resting at your sister’s!"
I looked at Mark as if he were a bug on my windshield. "Mark, you have twenty minutes to gather your personal clothes and vacate my property."
"Your property?!" Mark laughed nervously, looking at the police officers. "Officers, this is my brother-in-law’s estate! She’s his wife! They’re having a temporary marital dispute!"
Officer Harrison stepped forward, his hand resting on his belt. "Sir, the deed to this property is held exclusively in Mrs. Lena Vance's maiden name. She has executed a legally binding contract to sell this estate to Apex Capital. You have no lease agreement, no ownership rights, and no authorization from the owner to be on these premises. If you are not off this property in twenty minutes, you will be arrested for felony criminal trespass."
Mark’s face drained of all color. "S-sell the estate?! She can't sell Cedar Ridge! Where is Grant supposed to live?!"
"That is between your brother-in-law and his divorce attorney," Rachel replied icily. "Locksmith, proceed."
The heavy whir of an electric drill filled the morning air as the lock surgeon went to work on the front door keypad—the very keypad Grant had used to lock me out in the rain twenty-four hours earlier.
May you like
Mark panicked, whipping out his phone and frantically dialing Grant’s number. But Grant was currently three miles out at sea on a private yacht off the coast of South Beach, his phone tucked away in a dry box while he entertained his mother with mimosas.
Within fifteen minutes, Mark was escorted down the driveway by security guards, carrying two garbage bags filled with his clothes, shivering in the cold morning wind as the electronic iron gates slammed shut behind him.
