Chapter 7 - The Reckoning
The next morning,
Maxwell didn't go to his office.
He went to the police station.
He sat in a small room with two detectives and his own team of high-priced lawyers.
"I want to report a series of crimes,"
he said,
placing the files on the table.
"Fraud,
forgery,
harassment,
and conspiracy to commit child endangerment."
The detectives looked at the name on the files.
"Mr. Callahan,
this involves your family."
"It involves a criminal organization,"
Maxwell corrected.
"My mother is gone,
but her accomplices are still breathing."
By noon,
Julian Vane was in handcuffs.
By evening,
three other members of the Callahan legal team were being questioned.
The news broke on every major network.
The Callahan Scandal: Billionaire Exposes Own Mother’s Cruelty.
Maxwell sat in the penthouse,
watching the headlines scroll across the TV.
He didn't care about the stock price.
He didn't care about his reputation.
He only cared about the woman sitting on the balcony.
Eleanor was watching the sunset.
Sophie was playing with her blocks nearby.
"It’s all over the news,"
Maxwell said,
stepping out onto the balcony.
"Everyone knows the truth now."
"Does it make you feel better?"
Eleanor asked,
not looking at him.
"It makes me feel like I can breathe,"
he said.
"I spent years thinking you left because you stopped loving me.
I spent years being angry at a ghost."
Eleanor turned to look at him.
"I never stopped loving you,
Max.
That was the hardest part.
Every time I looked at Sophie,
I saw your eyes.
I saw the man I thought you were."
"I am that man,
Ellie.
I just got lost in the noise of my own life."
He stepped closer,
feeling the cool evening breeze.
"I want us to be a family again."
Eleanor looked down at her hands.
"It’s not that simple.
I’ve built a life without you.
It was hard,
and it was lonely,
but it was mine."
"I don't want to take your life away,"
he said.
"I want to be part of it."
Sophie ran over,
clutching a drawing.
"Look,
Daddy!
I drew a house!"
She held up a piece of paper with a shaky drawing of three people standing under a big sun.
Maxwell took the drawing,
his eyes stinging.
"It’s the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen,"
he said.
He looked at Eleanor,
a silent question in his eyes.
She didn't answer,
May you like
but she reached out and took his hand.
It was a start.
