Chapter 13
The next few weeks were a whirlwind.
Vanessa and Liam were arraigned, pleading not guilty, but the evidence against them was overwhelming. Rico testified, the board members testified, the security footage was played, the forged documents were shown to the jury. It took them less than two hours to find both of them guilty on all counts.
The judge sentenced them to twenty-five years in prison, no chance of parole.
I sat in the courtroom, Clara beside me, holding my hand, as the judge read the sentence. Vanessa stared at me, her face full of hate, but I didn’t care. She was gone. She could never hurt anyone again.
Liam cried, begging for mercy, apologizing, saying Vanessa had made him do it. No one believed him. He was led away in handcuffs, just like her.
When we walked out of the courthouse, the sun was shining. Reporters shouted questions, but we ignored them, getting into the car and driving away.
“It’s really over,” Clara said, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Really over,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
We went back to the house. The staff had decorated the front porch with flowers, and everyone was waiting for us, cheering as we got out of the car. Marcus, James, the cooks, the maids, the gardeners—everyone who’d stayed loyal, everyone who’d helped.
That night, we had a small dinner on the back terrace, just the people we cared about. My father came home from his business trip overseas, and we sat up late, talking, for the first time in years. He apologized for being distant, for not being there when I needed him. I forgave him. We couldn’t get back the years we’d lost, but we could make new ones.
Uncle Martin came, too. He apologized for not speaking up at the ball, for being scared. I told him I understood. Fear made people do things they weren’t proud of. I gave him a job running the company’s charity foundation, something he’d always wanted to do. He cried when I offered it to him.
Daniel came, too. He was quiet, ashamed, but he’d brought proof of more of Liam’s fraud, evidence he’d been hiding for months, too scared to come forward. I told him he could have his old job back, if he wanted it. He shook his head, saying he didn’t deserve it, but he promised he’d always be there if I needed him. We shook hands, and I knew we’d be friends again, someday.
After everyone left, Clara and I walked through the garden, hand in hand. The roses were in bloom, their scent sweet in the warm summer air.
“What now?” she asked.
“Now,” I said, stopping to look at her. “Now we live. We get married. We travel. We run the company, but we make time for us. We do all the things we couldn’t do when we were looking over our shoulders.”
May you like
She smiled, wrapping her arms around my waist. “That sounds perfect.”
I kissed her, slow and soft, under the stars. For the first time in my life, I felt completely at peace. No lies, no betrayal, no fear. Just love, and hope, and a future full of possibilities.
