Chapter 8 - THE RECLAMATION
By noon,
the house was empty again.
The police were gone.
Grant was in a holding cell.
Sarah was in a motel.
And Beatrice was reportedly stranded at the Miami airport with no way to pay for a flight home.
Rachel sat at my kitchen table,
stacking the final documents.
“It’s done,
Lena.”
“The emergency injunction is in place.”
“The locks have been permanently recoded.”
“And I’ve filed the divorce papers.”
I looked around the kitchen.
It looked the same,
but it felt different.
The shadows were gone.
The weight was gone.
I felt like I could finally breathe.
Nora walked in,
carrying a tray of sandwiches.
“Eat something,
Lena.”
“You haven't had a real meal since the hospital.”
I took a bite of a sandwich,
feeling the strength return to my body.
“What about the guard?”
I asked.
“He’s been blacklisted by every agency in the city,”
Rachel said.
“And his company is facing a massive lawsuit for aiding in an illegal lockout.”
I nodded.
Every person who had touched this plan was being held accountable.
It was a clean sweep.
I walked to the living room and sat on the floor with Ava.
She was lying on her tummy,
kicking her tiny legs.
She looked so small in the vastness of the room.
But she looked safe.
“I’m going to change things,
Nora,”
I said.
“I’m going to make this house a home again.”
“I’m going to take down those portraits in the staircase.”
“I’m going to plant a new garden.”
“And I’m going to teach Ava that her name is the only one that matters.”
Nora sat beside me,
resting her hand on my shoulder.
“She already knows,
Lena.”
“She saw what you did today.”
“She saw her mother take back her kingdom.”
I looked at the window.
The sky was clear now,
a brilliant,
shining blue.
The storm had passed.
The battle was won.
But the real work was just beginning.
I had to raise a daughter.
I had to run a business.
And I had to learn how to trust myself again.
But as I looked at Ava,
I knew I could do it.
May you like
I was a Hayes.
And we always find our way home.
