Chapter 9 - The Federal Penitentiary VisitThe waiting room of the Federal Correctional Institution was a sterile, echoing box of cinder blocks, fluorescent humming, and heavy steel doors.
I sat in a hard plastic chair, wearing a tailored cream trench coat and dark sunglasses, looking less like a betrayed ex-wife and more like a high-powered investor conducting a hostile corporate takeover.
A heavy metal latch clicked, and an armed guard escorted Daniel into the room.
The transformation was absolute. The confident, immaculately groomed surgeon who used to strut through the halls of Chicago General was gone. In his place sat a hollowed-out inmate wearing a coarse orange jumpsuit, his hair unwashed, his shoulders slumped in permanent defeat.
Daniel shuffled over to the glass partition, picked up the heavy black telephone receiver, and stared at me with eyes full of desperate shock.
I picked up my receiver, lifting it slowly to my ear.
"Rachel," Daniel’s voice cracked through the static of the speaker, sounding small and broken. "I... I didn't think you’d actually come. After everything..."
"I didn't come to comfort you, Daniel," I said, my voice completely devoid of warmth. "I came to deliver a final item."
I reached into my designer handbag, pulled out a manila envelope, and pressed it flat against the glass so he could read the bold black text stamped across the front.
FINAL DECREE OF DIVORCE & ASSET FORFEITURE.
Daniel stared at the words, his lips trembling. "You took everything, Rachel. The house, the accounts, my car... the federal government took my pension, my license, my freedom. I have nothing left."
"Correction, Daniel," I corrected smoothly, adjusting my sunglasses. "You have exactly what you built. For twelve years, I supported your career, managed your life, and covered your flaws while you built a castle out of sand and lies. You didn't lose everything because of me. You lost everything because of your own arrogance."
Daniel pressed his palm against the glass, a tear finally cutting a clean path down his dusty cheek. "Please, Rachel... is there any way back? Can we talk to the prosecutors? If you ask them to commute—"
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"My time is expensive, Daniel, and my flight to Paris leaves in two hours," I interrupted, standing up gracefully from the chair. "Goodbye, Dr. Bennett. Enjoy the rest of your shift."
I hung up the receiver, turned on my heel, and walked out of the prison without looking back once.
