Chapter 10 - The New Sun
One year later.
The ocean breeze blew gently across the wooden deck of my new home in Santa Barbara. The blue Pacific stretch stretched out endlessly before us, sparkling under the afternoon sun.
I sat on a comfortable patio chair, sipping iced tea, watching Sophie crawl happily across a soft woolen blanket on the deck. She was fourteen months old now, full of endless energy, with bright dark eyes and a laugh that filled every corner of my life.
Maya walked out through the glass sliding doors, carrying a plate of fresh fruit.
“Final legal papers just came through from the estate executors,” Maya said, setting the plate down and pulling out a chair. “The Malibu property has been sold. The proceeds, along with the recovered firm equity, have been fully deposited back into your father’s trust.”
“How much?” I asked quietly.
“Fully restored,” Maya smiled warmly. “Plus interest. Sophie’s trust fund is secure until she’s thirty years old.”
I looked out at the ocean, feeling a deep, quiet sense of accomplishment settle over my heart.
Eric had been transferred three weeks ago to the Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville to begin serving his twenty-six-year sentence. Lauren Hayes had completed her probation agreement and had moved back to her home state, stripped of her law license forever.
My life was entirely my own.
Sophie pulled herself up by holding onto the wooden coffee table, taking three tiny, unsteady steps toward me before tumbling safely into my lap, giggling uncontrollably.
I pulled her tight against my chest, kissing the crown of her warm head, breathing in her sweet scent.
Fourteen months ago, I was four days out from surgery, bleeding, terrified, and holding my child in a hospital parking lot while the man I trusted tried to steal my world.
He had thought I was weak because I was quiet. He had thought I was vulnerable because I loved him.
He was wrong.
I looked at my daughter, her small fingers wrapping securely around my hand.
May you like
“We made it, sweetie,” I whispered into the sunlit air.
The past was finally behind us, and the sun was rising on a future that no one would ever take from us again.
