PART 10: THE CELL
PART 10: THE CELL
The following week, a mandatory deposition required my presence at the Lincoln State Correctional Facility.
The visitor’s room was cold, smelling of industrial cleaner and stale wax.
I sat behind the thick glass partition, waiting.
The heavy steel door on the other side opened, and Paola was led into the room by a female guard.
Her long, styled hair was gone, cut into a rough, uneven bob. She wore a plain orange jumpsuit with a serial number stenciled across her chest. Her manicured nails were chipped and raw.
She sat down, aggressively picking up the plastic telephone receiver.
I picked up mine.
"Are you happy now, Meline?" Paola spat through the line, her eyes filled with a desperate, untamed venom. "You took my money. You took my mother’s house. You stole my life."
"You gave your life away, Paola," I said softly, looking at her through the glass. "The moment you turned that key on me, you decided your own fate."
"I'll get out," she hissed, her fingers smudging the glass. "In two years, I'll be free. And I will find you."
"You won't find anything, Paola," I said calmly. "The court just approved our permanent relocation. By the time you step out of these walls, our names will be legally changed, and your family empire will be nothing but a case study in a law textbook."
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I didn't wait for her response.
I hung up the phone, stood up, and walked out of the prison gates into the warm afternoon sun.
