Chapter 17 - Three Generations
Three days later, we brought Liam Carter home.
The autumn air was crisp, scented with fallen leaves and wood smoke as I carried the car seat carefully up the front steps of our house. Maya walked beside me, leaning slightly on my arm for support, smiling as the afternoon sun warmed the porch.
When we stepped through the front door, the house felt entirely reborn. No ghosts. No shadows. Just peace.
That evening, as Liam slept soundly in his crib upstairs, the doorbell rang.
I opened it to find Marcus Vance standing on the porch, holding a large, beautifully wrapped gift box tied with a silver ribbon.
“Uncle Marcus duty reporting for delivery,” he smiled, holding out the box.
“Come on in, Marcus,” I invited, stepping aside.
We sat in the living room over cups of black coffee while Marcus admired the framed birth announcement sitting on the mantelpiece.
“How are things handling downtown?” I asked, leaning back against the sofa.
“The federal prosecutors finalized the asset distribution this morning,” Marcus said, taking a sip of coffee. “Your mother’s trial is scheduled for early spring, and her legal team is already trying to plea- bargain for a reduced sentence, but with the wire fraud and identity theft counts stacked against her, she’s looking at a mandatory federal minimum.”
I nodded slowly, feeling neither anger nor pity—only a quiet closure. She had made her choices, and the system was doing what it was designed to do.
“What about Julian?” Maya asked, walking into the living room with a tray of cookies.
May you like
“Julian tried to pin the entire corporate forgery scheme on your mother,” Marcus chuckled dryly. “Apparently, family loyalty only runs one way in the Carter family. They’re currently not speaking, which makes prosecuting them almost amusing.”
Maya smiled, setting the tray down and handing Marcus a cookie. “Well, let them argue in federal prison. We have more important things to focus on.”
