Chapter 4 - The Return of the Damned
Three days later,
the news broke.
Ryan Sterling and Vanessa Lane had been extradited from Mexico,
not as a married couple,
but as co-defendants in a multi-national fraud and trafficking case.
The "wedding" in Cancun was a sham,
a ceremony performed by a paid actor to convince me to stay away while they drained the accounts.
They were brought back in handcuffs,
their designer clothes wrinkled and stained with the reality of a Mexican holding cell.
I stood in the lobby of the airport,
hidden behind dark sunglasses,
watching as the federal marshals led them through the terminal.
Ryan looked broken,
his eyes darting around in a panic.
Vanessa looked purely enraged,
her lips pulled back in a snarl.
When Ryan saw me standing there,
he stopped for a fleeting second.
“Evelyn!”
he screamed,
his voice cracking.
“Tell them!
Tell them it was a mistake!
I’ll give it all back!”
I didn't move.
I didn't speak.
I simply adjusted my glasses and watched as the marshals shoved him forward.
The police had cleared me of all charges after I provided the shadow logs.
The hardware wallet they found in my house was traced back to a purchase Vanessa had made a month earlier using a burner credit card.
The "threats" were proven to be sent from a computer in the firm’s office while I was at a dental appointment.
I had my life back,
but the house still felt cold.
I spent the afternoon sitting in the living room,
watching the sunset paint the walls in shades of orange and gold.
The doorbell rang at 6:00 PM.
It wasn't the police this time.
It was a courier.
He handed me a large,
padded envelope and asked for a signature.
Inside were the final keys to the firm,
the resignation letters of the board members who had doubted me,
and a small,
handwritten note from Ryan’s lawyer.
He wants a deal,
it read.
He will sign everything over to you if you testify that the drugs weren't his.
I walked to the fireplace and dropped the note into the embers.
I watched the paper curl and turn to black ash,
the words disappearing into the smoke.
I had already given my statement to the district attorney.
I had told the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth.
And the truth was that Ryan Sterling deserved every minute of the thirty years he was facing.
I picked up my phone and opened the messaging app.
I found the thread from three days ago,
the one that ended with my two-word reply.
I blocked his number.
Then I blocked Vanessa’s.
I walked to the front door and looked at the new locks the technician had installed.
They were strong,
silent,
May you like
and unbreakable.
Just like me.
