Chapter 9 - The Final Verdict“You have a public defender, Adrian,” I said, my voice smooth, detached, and chillingly polite.
“Mia, we were married for seven years! Have some heart! We built this company together!”
“No, Adrian,” I corrected him, my eyes narrowing as I stared at a framed photograph of baby Elena resting proudly on my desk. “You built a glass house on a foundation of sand, and then you invited a thief to help you kick out the pillars. I just happened to be standing outside with a bulldozer.”
“Please… what do you want from me? My soul?”
“I don’t want your soul, Adrian. It’s worthless,” I replied evenly. “I just wanted justice. And now that I have my company, my freedom, and my daughter, I have one last piece of business to attend to.”
“What business?” he whispered in horror.
“Your mother’s estate,” I said sweetly. “Turns out Evelyn used corporate collateral to secure her country club membership and her trust fund. My legal team is seizing her mansion by Friday afternoon. She’ll be moving into a very nice, very modest studio apartment right down the street from the county jail.”
A choked sob echoed through the line, followed by the harsh sound of a prison guard cutting off the call.
May you like
The line went dead with a sharp, final click.
I set the phone down, feeling a profound, weightless peace wash over me. The ghosts of my past miscarriages, the loneliness of the empty house, the sting of Celeste’s cruel bouquet—they were all gone, incinerated in the fire of my rebirth.
