Chapter 8 - Total Eclipse
The chaos that ensued over the next ten minutes was nothing short of spectatcular.
Jennifer flew into a hysterical rage, screaming insults at me, calling me a heartless monster, a crazy old bat, and a selfish hag. The Sheriff's deputies calmly intercepted her, grabbing her by the arms and escorting her out the front door in full view of the entire neighborhood.
Stuart didn't scream. He wept.
He fell to his knees on my hardwood floor, grabbing at the hem of my pants, begging like a child.
“Mom, please! Don't do this to me! They’re going to prosecute me! I’ll go to jail! Please, just give me four hundred thousand dollars! It’s nothing to you! You have Dad’s money! Please, Mom!”
I looked down at the boy I had raised. I looked at his pathetic, tear-soaked face, and for a fleeting second, I felt a faint pang of maternal sorrow. But then I remembered the heavy silver platter striking my chest. I remembered the grease on my blouse. I remembered his cruel voice echoing off the walls: “Go back to the nursing home, you useless old woman!”
I pulled my pant leg out of his grip.
“You made your choice, Stuart,” I said softly. “You decided that my life, my dignity, and my humanity were worth less than your financial comfort. You treated me like trash to be discarded. Now, you get to live with the consequences of your own choices.”
“Officer,” Arthur said smoothly to the remaining deputy. “Please remove this gentleman.”
The deputy grabbed Stuart by his shoulders, hauling him to his feet. Stuart stumbled backward, weeping hysterically, as he was marched out of the front door into the freezing December air.
I walked onto the front porch and stood beside the white pillars, watching the scene play out.
Neighbors were stepping out onto their lawns, watching in utter shock as Stuart and Jennifer were forced into their black SUV by the deputies. Jennifer was screaming through the window, slamming her fists against the dashboard, while Stuart sat slumped in the driver's seat, his head buried in his hands, completely broken.
They drove away, their tires screeching against the asphalt.
I turned to Arthur, taking a deep, clean breath of the crisp winter air. For the first time in five years—since Robert had died—I felt truly, completely free.
“What’s the next step, Eleanor?” Arthur asked softly.
“Pack my bags, Arthur,” I said, smiling at the sunset painting the sky in gorgeous shades of pink and orange. “My flight leaves at eight tomorrow morning.”
The next morning, before the sun had even risen, a taxi picked me up from the empty Victorian house. I left the keys on the kitchen counter for the Hendersons, pulled my single suitcase behind me, and never looked back.
I had already set up a private, offshore account dedicated exclusively to a secret educational trust for my grandchildren, Lily and Max. Their college educations were fully funded, locked safely beyond the reach of their greedy, bankrupt parents.
As for Stuart?
Three weeks after I disappeared, the deadline at his investment firm passed. Without the house equity to cover his embezzlement, his firm filed formal criminal charges. Stuart was arrested at his office in front of his colleagues, charged with four counts of grand larceny and corporate embezzlement.
Unable to post his fifty-thousand-dollar bail because their credit cards were maxed out and their house was mortgaged to the hilt, Stuart spent Christmas sitting in a county jail cell.
May you like
To cover his legal fees and avoid a lengthier prison sentence, Jennifer was forced to sell their suburban home at a massive loss, move into a cramped two-bedroom rental apartment, and take a job as a night-shift cashier.
The greedy ones who had plotted to steal my home and strip my freedom ended up losing everything they owned.
