Chapter 7 - The Collapse
The fallout from the deposition was apocalyptic for Liam.
Because of Valerie’s confession and the medical records proving Chloe’s abuse, the judge granted me sole, permanent legal and physical custody. Liam was stripped of all parental rights. The judge even issued a permanent restraining order, barring him from coming within five hundred yards of either of us.
His company fired him officially, citing the criminal investigation into his embezzlement of marital funds. He was blacklisted from every major financial firm in the Pacific Northwest.
As for Valerie, she didn't get the lenient plea deal she was hoping for. When the authorities ran her fingerprints, they linked her to a string of high-profile burglaries in Beverly Hills. She was extradited to California, facing twenty years in a maximum-security women’s prison.
Liam tried to come back to the house one last time. It was a rainy Tuesday. I was watching through the security cameras as he stood at the wrought-iron gates, soaking wet, pressing the intercom button.
“Sarah, please,” his voice cracked through the speaker in my kitchen. “I have nowhere to go. My accounts are at zero. I’m sleeping in a shelter. Please, just let me see Chloe. Tell her Daddy is sorry.”
I stared at the monitor. I felt absolutely nothing for the man on the screen.
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“Chloe doesn't have a daddy anymore,” I said into the microphone. “She has a mother. Do not ever return here, Liam, or I will have you arrested.”
I cut the feed and walked away.
