Chapter 10 - The New Beginning
The warm Hawaiian sun beat down on my shoulders as I walked along the pristine white sand beach.
Ellen was sitting under a striped umbrella, reading a novel and sipping a brightly colored tropical drink.
The ocean breeze carried the smell of salt and blooming flowers, completely washing away the trauma of the past year.
We had sold our tech company for a massive fortune, leaving the corporate world behind for good.
Michael was currently serving a fifty-year sentence in a maximum-security federal penitentiary, and we had cut all contact with him.
Daniel had fully recovered from his gunshot wound and retired from the FBI, occasionally joining us for dinner on the island.
Our lives were finally peaceful, filled with healing, laughter, and the deep love that had saved us both.
I smiled as I watched Ellen turn a page of her book, her face completely free of bruises and fear.
I kissed the top of her head and told her I was going back to the beach house to grab two glasses of wine to watch the sunset.
She squeezed my hand affectionately, her eyes sparkling with absolute contentment.
I walked up the wooden boardwalk, unlocking the front door of our luxurious, heavily secured beachfront home.
I stepped into the cool, air-conditioned kitchen, humming a quiet tune as I reached for the wine glasses in the cabinet.
I noticed that the red light on the home security keypad was blinking, indicating that the alarms had been manually disabled.
Sitting perfectly centered on the marble kitchen island was a pristine white envelope with a familiar black wax seal.
May you like
I tore the envelope open and found a sonogram picture clipped to a handwritten note from Cassandra.
The note simply read: "My real employers send their regards, and your new grandchild will be inheriting your estate very soon."
