“As the sole, named beneficiary on the private insurance policies,” Sterling continued, a grim smile touching his lips, “which bypass probate entirely and are strictly separate from the bankrupt estate, the funds are clear, legally protected from all creditors, and available in your new accounts immediately.”
Helen let out a guttural, horrifying wail of absolute despair, collapsing face-first into the wet gravel as the tow trucks revved their engines, dragging the luxury cars out of the driveway.
I didn’t stay to watch the federal agents physically force my parents and sister out of the house with a single suitcase each. I got into the back of Sterling’s warm, quiet car, leaving my family screaming at each other in the smoldering ruins of the empire they thought they had so cleverly stolen.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Arthur’s letter, tracing his shaky, beautiful handwriting one last time, feeling a profound, heavy peace settle over my soul.
Chapter 6: The Value of a Dollar
A year later, the Lawson family was nothing but a legendary, whispered cautionary tale in the downtown financial district.
The collapse of their lives was absolute and total.
Richard and Helen, unable to pay the staggering 32 million dollars in defaulted corporate debt they had eagerly assumed, were forced into a catastrophic, humiliating personal bankruptcy. The federal courts seized everything they owned, liquidating their personal bank accounts, their retirement funds, and auctioning off their jewelry to satisfy the creditors. They were currently living in a cramped, depressing one-bedroom apartment in a rundown suburb, their marriage fractured beyond repair by the relentless stress of poverty and mutual, toxic blame.
Chloe’s reality was arguably the most poetic.
