Evelyn’s face turned completely ghost-white. The thick leather rulebook slipped from her trembling fingers, falling into the gutter.
Chapter V: The Price of Entitlement
As cold steel handcuffs clicked around Evelyn's wrists, Marcus stood calmly on the curb, holding his brother's silver Airborne emblem safely in his hand.
"Marcus, please!" Evelyn shrieked as she was guided toward the back of the cruiser. "Call them off! We can settle this with the HOA insurance fund! You can't ruin my life over this!"
"The HOA insurance won't cover a deliberate criminal felony," Marcus said, his voice flat and unyielding. "I'm suing you personally for the full replacement value, plus triple punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress."
He stepped closer to the squad car door.
"You'll have to sell your mansion just to pay for my brother's car."
The cruiser doors slammed shut, driving the disgraced HOA president away in front of the cheering neighborhood, leaving Marcus on his front lawn with the memory of his brother safely preserved forever.