Chapter 6 - Mercy and Reckoning
Three days later, Nora sat in her private office in Paradise Valley. The locks on the house had been replaced with biometric scanners, private security guards patrolled the grounds, and the air inside the estate felt clean for the first time in ten years.
A soft knock came at her office door. Her assistant looked in. "Nora... Heather Perkinson is downstairs. She says she needs ten minutes. She's crying."
Nora paused, staring at the paperwork on her desk, before nodding. "Send her up."
Heather walked into the office, looking pale, exhausted, and visibly terrified. She held little Noah by the hand. The toddler looked around the magnificent office with wide, innocent eyes.
"Mrs. Preston," Heather choked out, her voice trembling. "I... I brought everything. All the deeds to the condo, the keys to the Lexus, the jewelry Edgar bought me. I don't want any of it. I swear to God... I didn't know he was trying to kill you. I thought he was just a wealthy guy whose wife was sick."
Nora looked at the young woman. She saw a girl who had been foolish, naive, and blinded by Edgar’s fake wealth—but she didn't see a murderer. And most importantly, she looked at the little boy who had done nothing wrong.
"Sit down, Heather," Nora said gently.
Heather sat nervously on the edge of the leather armchair, clutching her purse.
"The condo and the car were bought with embezzled company funds," Nora said clearly. "My attorneys will be taking possession of the Scottsdale property and selling it to recover the stolen assets. You will have to move out by the end of the month."
Heather nodded quickly, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I understand. I'll move back in with my parents in Tucson. I'll get a job. I just... I don't want my son associated with a murderer."
Nora walked around her desk and knelt down in front of four-year-old Noah. She looked into his sweet, innocent face—a child who deserved a real future, not the toxic legacy of Edgar and Kristina Finch.
"Noah," Nora said softly, handing him a silver pen from her desk. "Do you like drawing?"
The little boy nodded shyly, clutching the pen.
Nora looked up at Heather. "I won't press civil charges against you, Heather. Furthermore, I am setting up a private $100,000 educational trust fund for Noah. It will be managed independently. Edgar and Kristina will never have access to a single penny of it, and neither will you until Noah turns eighteen."
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Heather gasped, placing her hands over her mouth as fresh tears spilled over. "Why... why would you do that for my son after what Edgar did to you?"
"Because Edgar and his mother are monsters," Nora said, standing up straight with absolute dignity. "And I refuse to let their venom ruin an innocent child's life."
