Chapter 10 - Freedom
One year later.
The sun was shining over the coast of Maine. I sat on the porch of the beautiful beachfront house Elias had helped me purchase. The ocean breeze was crisp and salty, a million miles away from the sterile, terrifying kitchen I had fled.
Sophie was drawing with chalk on the driveway, laughing as our new golden retriever chased a tennis ball around her feet. She was thriving. The shadows under her eyes were gone. She was just a kid again.
My phone buzzed on the patio table. It was an alert from the news app.
Prominent Wealth Manager David Collins Sentenced to 45 Years in Federal Prison.
I read the headline twice, letting the words sink into my bones. He was locked away in a concrete box, stripped of his suits, his arrogance, and his freedom. He would die in prison.
I didn't feel sorry for him. I didn't feel anything for him at all. He was a ghost from a past life.
I poured myself a cup of coffee, breathing in the scent. It didn't smell like fear anymore. It smelled like peace.
"Mom! Look!" Sophie yelled, holding up a drawing of a bright yellow sun over a blue ocean.
I smiled, walking down the steps to join her in the sunshine.
"It's beautiful, sweetie," I said, kissing the top of her head.
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David had thought we were weak. He thought we were disposable. He thought he could write the end of our story. But he forgot the most dangerous force in the world: a mother protecting her child.
We hadn't just survived. We had won.
