Chapter 10 - The In-Laws' Collapse-10
Two weeks after the discoveries in the study, the final financial and legal structures of the Prescott family collapsed into complete, irreversible ruin.
Marjorie and Walter Prescott were formally arraigned at the Federal District Courthouse in Raleigh. Walter was indicted on nine felony counts, including Conspiracy to Commit Capital Murder, Extortion, Wire Fraud, and Tax Evasion. Due to his active role in my father's death and his attempt to flee the state, the magistrate denied his bail application, remanding him to a high-security state correctional facility pending trial.
Marjorie Prescott, despite her desperate pleas that she was "merely a dutiful wife who knew nothing of her husband’s business," was charged with Accomplice to Grand Larceny, Destruction of Evidence, and Theft of Corporate Trust Assets after forensic video from my home security system showed her actively stuffing my private financial records and jewelry into trash bags.
Unable to post her $250,000 bail, Marjorie was forced to swap her designer silk blouses for an orange inmate jumpsuit, residing in the county jail’s women’s wing alongside the very people she had looked down upon her entire life.
As for Dean’s sister, Brielle Prescott—who had spent years living off my firm’s secondary credit lines while mocking my "modest background"—her luxury lifestyle evaporated overnight.
The lease on her uptown Charlotte apartment, which had been paid through Prescott North Creative’s corporate account, was immediately terminated by the receivership board. Her luxury vehicle was repossessed at a local shopping mall in front of her high-society friends, and her personal bank accounts were seized to satisfy outstanding civil judgments for unauthorized credit card use.
On a cold Thursday morning, I sat in Arthur Pendelton’s office while he reviewed the final liquidation reports for the Prescott family assets.
“Every piece of personal property held by Walter and Marjorie Prescott has been attached to the civil wrongful death lawsuit we filed on behalf of your father’s estate, Natalie,” Arthur reported, sliding a final decree across the desk. “Their home in Pinehurst, their vehicle fleet, and their private investment accounts have been liquidated. The court has awarded a total civil judgment of $18.5 million directly to the Miller Sovereign Trust.”
“What about Dean’s remaining personal assets?” I asked.
“He has none,” Arthur said flatly. “After paying his court-appointed public defender fees and satisfying his outstanding tax liens, Dean Prescott is legally, financially, and personally bankrupt. He will enter his criminal trial with zero assets to his name.”
I signed the civil execution documents with a smooth, unhurried stroke of my pen.
“Where is Oliver’s formal custody file?” I asked.
Arthur smiled warmly, pulling a green-stamped court document from his folder. “The High Family Court executed the final decree yesterday. You have been granted sole, absolute legal and physical custody of Oliver, with zero visitation rights granted to Dean Prescott or his extended family. The name Prescott has been legally removed from Oliver’s birth certificate. His legal name is now Oliver Marcus Miller.”
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I took the custody document into my hands, tracing the raised gold seal of the court.
The name Prescott was gone. The shadow that had hung over my son’s future was permanently erased.
