Chapter 15 - The Uninvited VisitorSpring returned to Wisconsin with an explosion of emerald green pastures, blooming wildflowers, and endless blue skies. Sophie was back on her bicycle, racing down the long gravel driveway with our two golden retrievers bounding alongside her bicycle tires like loyal guards.
I was standing on the wraparound porch with a fresh cup of coffee when a sleek black sedan pulled up the gravel lane, stopping near the mailbox.
My body instantly tensed.
The driver's side door clicked open, and a man stepped out. It wasn't federal marshals. It wasn't debt collectors.
It was David.
He looked thinner, his tailored suits replaced by an off-the-rack trench coat that looked slightly rumpled. The arrogant smirk that used to define his corporate persona was entirely gone, replaced by a desperate, hollow exhaustion.
He took three steps toward the porch before I raised my hand, my voice cutting through the morning breeze like a razor.
"Stop right there, David."
David froze, holding up his hands defensively. "Evelyn... please. I just... I wanted to talk. Just five minutes."
"You lost your right to talk to me the day you colluded with my brother to frame an eight-year-old child and embezzle millions," I said, my voice ice-cold. "How did you even find this address?"
"Public court filings," David sighed, looking around the peaceful countryside as if searching for a miracle. "My lawyers dropped me after the second federal indictment. I lost the penthouse, the cars, my license to practice corporate law... everything is gone, Evelyn. I'm facing another three years in a minimum-security facility next month."
"Then I suggest you spend your remaining free time talking to a federal sentencing judge instead of trespassing on private property," I replied, stepping down off the porch and walking toward him, closing the distance until only a few feet separated us.
David looked at me, his eyes swimming with a pathetic mix of pleading and disbelief. "We used to be a team, Evelyn. We built a life together."
"No," I corrected him sharply. "You used me as a digital shield for your crimes, and you watched my brother crack my daughter's head open without lifting a finger to stop him. You are nothing to me, David. Not a husband. Not a partner. Not even a memory worth keeping."
I turned my back on him before he could say another word, walking back toward the porch steps.
Behind me, I heard his voice crack with quiet desperation. "Evelyn... please. Is there any part of you that remembers who we were?"
I didn't turn around. I didn't break stride.
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"The woman you're talking to died the night of Preston's wedding," I called out over my shoulder. "And the lamb you tried to corner is long gone, too."
Moments later, the heavy thrum of his sedan engine echoed down the lane as he turned his car around and drove away, swallowed forever by the dust and the open road.
