Chapter 108

Chapter 108
Chapter 108

Yvonne’s POV

The knock came at exactly ten in the morning.

Sharp. Firm. Not hesitant. Not polite. The kind of knock that did not wait for permission.

I was still in my robe when I opened the door.

A man in a dark suit stood there. Clean cut. Professional. No expression on his face. He held a briefcase in one hand and a clipboard in the other. Papers neatly arranged. Official.

Something inside me dropped before he even spoke.

“Yvonne Rodriguez?”

“Yes.”

“I am here on behalf of the new property owner. You are required to vacate the premises immediately.”

For a second, I thought I had heard wrong.

“Excuse me?”

He handed me a stack of papers. Thick. Heavy. Legal language printed across every page.

“The property located at 847 Riverside Manor was sold three days ago. Settlement was completed yesterday. The new owner takes possession today. You are listed as a current occupant, not an owner. You must vacate within four hours.”

Four hours.

The words echoed in my head but refused to settle.

“There has to be a mistake,” I said, my voice already shaking. “This is my house. I live here.”

“The property is registered under David Rodriguez,” he replied calmly. “He sold it. Legally. The transaction is complete.”

My fingers tightened around the papers.

“He sold it,” I repeated, slower this time. “Without telling me?”

“I cannot speak to that. I can only inform you of your legal obligation. You have four hours to remove your personal belongings. Security will return to ensure compliance.”

“Four hours?” My voice cracked. “You cannot be serious.”

He did not react. “Four hours.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Just like that.

Like he had delivered a package.

Like he had not just told me that I no longer had a home.

I stood there in the doorway long after he left. The papers trembled in my hands.

Sold.

Three days ago.

And I was only finding out now.

My chest tightened as I read through the documents. Every line confirmed it. The signatures. The stamps. The transaction amount.

Seventy five million dollars.

David had sold the house.

The house I had lived in for two years. The house I had decorated room by room. The house where I had tried to build a life with him.

Gone.

And I had four hours to disappear from it.

My heart started racing.

I grabbed my phone and called him.

It rang.

Then voicemail.

I called again.

Voicemail.

Again.

Still nothing.

He was not picking up.

He knew.

He knew exactly what was happening, and he chose not to answer.

A hollow feeling spread through my chest. Something between anger and disbelief and something much worse.

I did not have time to process it.

Four hours.

I ran upstairs.

My hands shook as I pulled open drawers, grabbing clothes without thinking. Dresses. Jeans. Shoes. Anything that fit into a suitcase.

My mind kept jumping between thoughts.

Where am I going to go?

Who can I call?

What do I even have left?

I opened the closet and froze for a second.

This room used to feel like mine.

Now it felt like I was stealing from it.

I forced myself to move. Threw clothes into a suitcase. Grabbed my jewelry box. My passport. Important documents.

Everything else became background noise.

The furniture stayed.

The art on the walls stayed.

The memories stayed.

I could not take any of it.

I dragged one suitcase downstairs. Then another. Then a third.

That was all I could manage.

Three suitcases.

My entire life reduced to three suitcases.

I stood in the living room for a moment, looking around.

The couch. The glass table. The large windows that let in sunlight every morning.

I remembered choosing the curtains.

Remembered arguing with David over the color.

Remembered laughing.

That felt like a different life.

A life that did not belong to me anymore.

A knock came again.

This time softer.

“Two hours remaining,” the same man’s voice called from outside.

Two hours.

I swallowed hard and walked out.

I did not look back again.

The drive to David’s office felt unreal.

Like I was moving through something that had not fully happened yet.

Traffic blurred past me. People walked on sidewalks. Life continued like nothing had changed.

But everything had changed.

I had nowhere to go.

No plan.

No home.

And the one person who should have at least given me warning had shut me out completely.

I parked in front of his building without thinking about it.

I needed to see him.

Needed to hear it from him.

Needed him to explain how he could do this to me.

I walked straight inside. Past security. Past the reception desk. Straight to the elevator.

The ride up felt too long.

My reflection in the mirrored walls looked pale. Tired. Not like the woman I used to be.

The doors opened.

His assistant saw me immediately.

She stood up, tense.

“Mrs. Rodriguez, you cannot be here.”

“I need to see him.”

“He is unavailable.”

“I do not care.”

I walked past her before she could stop me.

Her voice followed me. “You cannot just walk in there.”

I already was.

I pushed the door open.

David sat behind his desk.

Papers scattered everywhere. His phone in his hand. He looked up, surprised for a second.

Then his expression hardened.

“Yvonne.”

“You sold the house.”

No greeting. No hesitation.

“You sold my house and sent someone to throw me out in four hours. Four hours, David.”

“It is not your house,” he said flatly.

Something inside me snapped.

“I lived there. I built a life there. You could not even call me?”

“The divorce settlement was clear. You walk away with nothing.”

“Nothing?” My voice rose. “So that gives you the right to throw me out like I am nothing?”

He stood up slowly.

“You are nothing to me.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

But I forced myself to stand my ground.

“I know what is happening,” I said. “I know about Isabella.”

His jaw tightened.

“Do not start.”

“She is not who you think she is.”

“I am not listening to this again.”

“You need to. Because this time we have proof.”

He walked toward the door.

“Leave.”

“She is connected to Lucia.”

His hand paused on the door handle.

“Lucia is dead.”

“There was no body.”

That made him turn.

For a split second, I saw it.

Doubt.

Then it disappeared.

“Enough.”

“No. Not enough. Anna found the records. The death certificate confirms it. No body was recovered. Just dental records submitted by Salome’s dentist. That can be faked. Everything about this can be faked.”

“You are embarrassing yourself.”

“She appeared right when Lucia disappeared. Everything in your life started falling apart when she came into it. Your business. Your clients. Your money. All of it.”

“That is coincidence.”

“No. That is strategy. She took everything from you. Over one and a half billion dollars. You gave it to her. Everything you had.”

His expression darkened.

“Get out.”

“She is going to destroy you.”

“Security,” he said, opening the door.

Two guards appeared almost instantly.

I stepped forward. “David, listen to me. Please. Just look at the evidence. Just once. That is all I am asking.”

“Remove her.”

The guards grabbed my arms.

“David!” I struggled. “She is Lucia. She is the woman you destroyed. She is going to do the same thing to you. She is going to leave you at the altar.”

“Get her out of my building.”

He did not even look at me again.

The guards dragged me out.

Through the office.

Through the hallway.

Into the elevator.

Down to the lobby.

Outside.

They let go of me near my car.

“Do not come back,” one of them said. “You are banned.”

Banned.

Like I was a stranger.

Like I had never meant anything.

I stood there, breathing hard, my arms still aching from their grip.

David had not listened.

Not even for a second.

Not even for me.

\---

I got into my car slowly.

Closed the door.

Sat there.

Silence.

The engine was off. The world outside felt distant.

I stared at the steering wheel.

I had nowhere to go.

That realization settled in slowly.

Not dramatic.

Not loud.

Just quiet and heavy.

I had no house.

No husband.

No place waiting for me.

No one to call without feeling ashamed.

I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.

Images flashed through my mind.

Lucia.

Standing at the altar.

Alone.

Destroyed.

I had watched it happen.

I had helped it happen.

And now I understood.

Not just the event.

The feeling.

The emptiness.

The moment when everything you thought was yours disappears.

I let out a shaky breath.

This was karma.

Not a concept.

Not a word.

Something real.

Something that found you.

Something that waited.

Something that came back.

I opened my eyes and stared ahead.

David would not understand.

Not yet.

He would walk into that wedding believing everything was real.

Believing Isabella loved him.

Believing this time was different.

But it was not.

It was the same story.

Just reversed.

And when it happened, when she did not show, when he stood there and realized, when everything collapsed around him, he would feel this.

Exactly this.

The silence.

The emptiness.

The loss.

But by then it would be too late.

For him.

Just like it was too late for Lucia.

And now, too late for me.

I started the engine.

The car came to life.

I sat there for a moment longer, gripping the wheel.

Three suitcases in the back.

Everything I had left.

Everything I owned.

Everything I was.

Reduced.

Simplified.

Stripped.

I pulled out of the parking lot slowly.

No destination.

Just movement.

Just leaving.

Just surviving the moment.

I did not know where I was going.

But I knew one thing.

Everything had changed.

And there was no going back.