Chapter 15 - The Grand Jury Subpoena
The following Monday morning brought no relief to the Sterling family.
Chloe’s rented apartment in Scottsdale was officially locked. A bright orange notice was taped to the door: **WRIT OF RESTITUTION: PROPERTY RECLAIMED BY OWNER.**
Chloe sat on the curb of the parking garage surrounded by three garbage bags stuffed with fast-fashion clothes, her mascara running down her cheeks, frantically trying to order an Uber. Every single ride request was instantly cancelled—her credit cards were dead, her Apple Pay was disabled, and her debit card had a balance of forty-two cents.
Her phone buzzed. A text from her modeling agency:
*“Due to recent public controversies and breach of the standard morality clause, Chloe Sterling is immediately dropped from our talent roster. Do not contact the office.”*
Across town at the county administration building, Beatrice Sterling stood before a federal grand jury clerk, trembling as an agent in a windbreaker handed her an official court summons:
**UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA: SUBPOENA TO TESTIFY BEFORE GRAND JURY.**
*In Re: Wire Fraud, Identity Theft, and Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Enterprise involving Apex Media Partners and Mason Sterling.*
Beatrice’s hands shook so violently the paper fluttered like a dying bird. “I… I don't know anything about businesses! I’m just a mother! My son handled everything!”
“Ma’am,” the federal agent said, his face carved from granite. “Your name is listed as the secondary managing director on the corporate filings. You personally endorsed fourteen cashier checks drawn from fraudulent lines of credit. If you don't appear before the grand jury on Thursday at 9:00 AM, a federal warrant will be issued for your arrest.”
Beatrice staggered backward, leaning against the cold granite wall of the courthouse corridor.
All her friends from church, all her socialite acquaintances, all the people she had bragged to about her daughter-in-law’s wealth—they were gone. Her phone was dead silent. When she had called her best friend, Evelyn, that morning begging for a spare room, Evelyn had replied: *“Don't ever call this number again, Beatrice. You’re an embarrassment to everyone who knows you.”*
May you like
She was alone. She was penniless. And the monstrous empire of lies she had built on Valerie’s generosity had completely caved in.
***