Chapter 8 - The Red Dress
I spent the next week at the boutique hotel,
watching the news from a distance.
The Pierce Group announced a “major restructuring.”
Nathan “stepped down” to pursue other interests.
Eleanor was nowhere to be seen,
rumored to be at their estate in France.
The mistress,
Brooke Landon,
vanished from the social scene.
Without Nathan’s money to fund her red dresses,
she was just another girl in a crowded city.
I met Elias for lunch on Friday to finalize the bank transfers.
The money was in my account.
The estate in Lake Forest was being prepared for my arrival.
“You’re a wealthy woman,
Mara,”
Elias said,
toasting me with a glass of sparkling water.
“What are you going to do now?”
I looked out at the lake,
the water calm and blue.
“I’m going to start a foundation,”
I said.
“A real one.”
“One that helps women find their own way out of situations like mine.”
“I’m going to call it The Ledger Foundation.”
Elias smiled.
“I think that’s fitting.”
As I walked back to my car,
I saw a woman in a red dress crossing the street.
For a moment,
my heart skipped a beat.
But then I realized it wasn't Brooke.
It was just a stranger,
living her own life.
The dress didn't belong to Brooke anymore.
The Pierce family didn't own the color red.
And they certainly didn't own me.
I drove to the Lake Forest estate,
the iron gates opening for me.
The house was empty,
but it didn't feel like a tomb anymore.
It felt like a blank canvas.
I walked into the foyer and looked at the console table.
The keys I had left for Nathan were gone.
But I had my own set now.
I walked to the study and opened the windows,
letting the fresh air fill the room.
I sat at the desk and looked at the space where the safe used to be.
I didn't need a safe anymore.
I didn't have any secrets left to hide.
I was Mara Vance.
May you like
And for the first time in my life,
I was free.
