Chapter 6 - The Battle for Audrey
The news of Ethan Vance's arrest sent shockwaves through the state's financial and political circles.
Within forty-eight hours, five municipal board members resigned, three construction contracts were immediately frozen, and Vance Construction's stock dropped to zero.
Evelyn tried to visit Audrey at our hotel suite on Thursday afternoon, her designer clothes rumpled, her face pale with desperation.
When I opened the door, she didn't offer an apology; she tried to demand that Audrey drop the domestic abuse charges.
"Audrey, please!" Evelyn cried, trying to push past me into the room. "He's your stepfather! He provided for us for years! If he goes to prison, we lose the house! We lose everything!"
Audrey walked over to the doorway, standing tall and steady beside me.
"He didn't provide for us, Mother," Audrey said, her voice completely free of hesitation. "He bought your silence with stolen money while he ruined my life."
"You chose him every single time I begged for help," Audrey added, her eyes cold as she looked at her mother. "Now you can live with the choice you made."
Audrey closed the heavy wooden door directly in her mother's face, locking it with a firm click.
There were no more tears.
May you like
No more fear.
The girl who had been hidden in the shadows of an abusive home had finally reclaimed her voice.
