Chapter 9 - The Aftermath
The news of the arrest hit the local papers the next day.
Local Businessman Arrested in Plot to Murder Pregnant Wife.
It was the scandal of the decade.
Claire remained in the hospital for three more days.
She spent every waking moment in the NICU, holding baby Lily.
Lily was growing stronger every hour.
She had Claire’s eyes and Claire’s fighting spirit.
During those three days, Sarah’s legal team went to work.
The divorce papers were filed on the grounds of extreme cruelty and attempted murder.
Claire was granted immediate, sole, temporary custody.
Evan’s assets—what little remained of them—were frozen.
His three-million-dollar gambling debt was called in by his creditors.
Because he was sitting in a county jail with no bail, he couldn't pay.
The bank foreclosed on the properties he had bought behind Claire's back.
Margaret and Harold were placed in separate holding cells.
They quickly turned on each other.
Margaret claimed Harold was the mastermind.
Harold told the police Margaret had poisoned Claire's food weeks prior to induce early labor.
The investigation widened, digging up years of the family’s toxic, illegal behavior.
On the day of her discharge, Claire walked out of the hospital with Lily in a car seat.
The sun was shining brightly.
The cold, rainy weather had finally passed.
A sleek black car waited for them at the entrance.
Mark, the private security guard Sarah had hired, opened the door.
“Welcome back to the world, Ms. Claire,” Mark said respectfully.
Claire looked at her beautiful daughter sleeping peacefully.
“Let’s go home,” Claire said.
Not the house she had shared with Evan.
But her own estate. The one she had bought with her own money.
The locks had already been changed.
The security system upgraded.
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No one from Evan's toxic bloodline would ever step foot near them again.
She was entirely, completely free.
