Chapter 9 - The Severance
The final piece of business was extracting my name from Grant’s fraudulent mortgage.
Because I had reported the identity theft immediately with Hayes’s help, the bank’s fraud department cleared me of all liability. The secondary mortgage fell squarely on Grant’s estate, which the government was actively seizing to pay back the stolen funds.
Grant pleaded guilty to avoid a trial. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison.
Vanessa, unable to maintain her lavish lifestyle, filed for divorce three months into his sentence. She took Connor and moved into a cramped two-bedroom apartment in a different school district, working as a receptionist at a car dealership. Her country club friends pretended she didn't exist.
My parents had to sell the giant house with the pool. The proceeds went to paying off the corporate debts Grant had accrued. They moved into a small retirement condo, entirely dependent on Social Security and the small pension my father had protected.
In the span of six months, the people who had made my life a quiet, miserable competition for validation were completely neutralized. They had destroyed themselves. I didn't have to lift a finger to ruin them; I only had to refuse to catch them when they fell.
I received one final letter from my father. It arrived in the mail, handwritten on cheap paper. It was a long, rambling letter about legacy, forgiveness, and family duty. It ended with a plea to come visit him and my mother, to "mend fences."
I took the letter to the backyard fire pit.
Maya and Lily were roasting marshmallows with Michael. I sat down next to my husband, struck a match, and touched it to the corner of the paper. I watched the words curl, turn black, and turn to ash, floating away into the evening sky.
May you like
“Important mail?” Michael asked, bumping his shoulder against mine.
“Junk mail,” I smiled, leaning my head against his arm. “Nothing we need to worry about.”
