Chapter 3 - The Aftermath
The funeral was small.
No flowers from Daniel.
He wasn't allowed near the cemetery.
Arthur had seen to that.
He had spent the last forty-eight hours dismantling every trace of Daniel’s existence.
The house we shared?
It was in my name.
The cars?
My name.
The company shares?
Voided by the Board for "gross moral turpitude and financial fraud."
I stood by the grave, dressed in black.
I felt nothing.
The numbness had been replaced by a razor-sharp clarity.
Vanessa had tried to call me.
Forty-two times.
I blocked her.
I heard from my lawyer that she had moved out of her apartment.
She couldn't pay the rent.
Daniel couldn't pay the child support for Lily, let alone keep his mistress afloat.
They were living in a motel on the edge of the city.
The irony was delicious.
My mother approached me.
"Claire, it's time to go."
I looked at the headstone.
Noah Whitmore.
Gone, but never forgotten.
"I’m not going back to that house, Mom," I said.
"Where will you go?"
"Italy," I said. "I have tickets."
"But the legal proceedings?"
"They can happen without me," I replied. "I've left everything in the hands of the best firm in Arizona."
I turned away from the grave.
I saw Daniel standing at the cemetery gate.
He looked haggard.
His clothes were wrinkled.
He had lost twenty pounds in a week.
He looked like a man who had been hollowed out.
He saw me and started to run.
"Claire! Please!"
He tripped over a wreath.
He scrambled up, his hands covered in dirt.
"I didn't mean it! I didn't know he was that sick! Please, just one minute!"
I stopped.
I waited for him.
He collapsed at my feet, sobbing.
It was a pathetic, ugly sound.
"I lost everything, Claire. Vanessa left. Lily is… she’s fine, but she won't talk to me. I’m alone."
I knelt down, bringing my face close to his.
"You aren't alone, Daniel," I whispered.
"You have exactly what you chose."
He looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
"I can change. We can start over."
I stood up.
I adjusted my coat.
"There is no 'we'."
I walked past him.
I didn't look back.
I walked to the car where my mother was waiting.
As I climbed in, I saw a black sedan pull up.
It was the police.
They weren't there for me.
They were there for the report of insurance fraud and child endangerment.
I watched from the rearview mirror as they handcuffed him.
He didn't fight back.
He just stared at my car as we drove away.
The gate closed behind us.
May you like
The chapter was finally, irrevocably finished.
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