Chapter 4 - THE COLLAPSE OF THE HOUSE OF CARDS
Three days later,
I was discharged from the hospital and taken not to the house I shared with Mark,
but to a beautiful,
sun-drenched penthouse my mother owned near the park.
The locks on our old house had already been changed,
and a team of professional movers had packed every single one of my and the baby’s belongings.
Mark had been released on bail,
thanks to a loan from a friend who clearly didn't know the full story,
and he had spent the last forty-eight hours trying to call me.
I finally answered on the third day,
sitting on the balcony with my son,
Liam,
sleeping in my arms.
"Clara!
Thank God!"
Mark’s voice was frantic,
shaky,
and devoid of the arrogance he had displayed just days ago.
"You have to tell your mother to stop!"
"I lost my job,
Clara!"
"The bank is freezing my personal accounts,
and the police are asking about the $23,000!"
"I did it for Sienna!
She was going to be killed!"
I listened to him,
and for the first time,
I felt absolutely nothing.
"You told me to take an aspirin,
Mark,"
I said,
my voice as cold as the wind off the river.
"You told me to delay the birth of our son because your sister’s gambling was more important than my survival."
"I didn't 'tell' my mother to do anything."
"She simply did what any person with a conscience would do when they see a monster in their family."
"You aren't a victim,
Mark."
"You are a thief and a coward."
"Clara,
please,"
he whimpered,
and I could hear the sound of a cheap motel room in the background.
"I have nowhere to go."
"Sienna is being charged with felony fraud,
and she’s blaming me for everything."
"She told the police I forced her into the gambling so I could skim money from the company!"
I let out a short,
bitter laugh.
"Family comes first,
right,
Mark?"
"That’s what you said to me."
"It seems Sienna is following your advice and putting her own safety ahead of yours."
"Don't call this number again."
"My lawyers will be in touch regarding the divorce and the criminal charges for the theft of my medical funds."
I hung up before he could respond,
blocking his number for the last time.
The realization that his own sister had turned on him was the ultimate irony.
He had destroyed our family to save her,
and she was using him as a shield to save herself.
My mother walked into the room,
carrying a fresh bottle for Liam and a stack of papers.
"The house is on the market,"
she said,
checking her watch.
"And since I held the primary mortgage through one of my shell companies—something Mark never bothered to check—the proceeds will go directly into a trust for Liam."
"Mark will be lucky if he has enough left for a bus ticket out of the state once the IRS is finished with him."
I looked at the city below,
realizing that the woman I had been three days ago was gone.
That version of Clara was a girl who took insults and hid in the shadows.
The new Clara was a mother,
May you like
a daughter of the Vance legacy,
and a woman who would never be a victim again.
