Chapter 5 - The Aftermath
The house in Arcadia was eventually sold. I didn't keep a dime of the profit; I donated it to a foundation for children who had suffered from domestic trauma. It was a cleansing ritual, a way to wash the memory of my family’s bitterness from the walls.
Elmer—my ex-husband and Maisie’s father—eventually showed up, too. He had heard about the "scandal" and tried to intervene, thinking he could play the hero. He showed up at my new office, looking polished and self-important.
"I think it’s time I took Maisie for a while," he said, tapping on my desk. "Clearly, you’re unstable if you’re driving away your own mother."
I pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. It was a file on his own secret finances—money he had been hiding from the court during our divorce proceedings.
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"You can take Maisie," I said, "if you want to spend the next five years explaining to the IRS why you have a hidden account in the Caymans. I think you’ll find that prison is much harder on a man with a suit and a fake smile."
He paled, shoved the folder into his briefcase, and walked out without another word. I never saw him again.
