Chapter 8 - The Rumors in Richmond
Word travels fast when an empire collapses.
Within two months, the Richmond legal community was buzzing with the news. Whitmore & Associates was dissolved. The historic family estate in the suburbs—the sprawling brick colonial where my mother had orchestrated thirty years of miserable, picture-perfect holidays—was put up for auction.
Marcus called me a week before the foreclosure auction.
His voice sounded small, muffled by the static of a cell phone connection.
"They're moving into a two-bedroom condo in downtown Richmond, Dan," Marcus said quietly. "Mom’s having panic attacks. Kyle’s lawyers are handling his assets to keep them from getting dragged down with Dad's remaining debts. It's... it's a mess."
"I'm sorry, Marc," I said, and I meant it. Marcus didn't deserve to carry the debris of my parents' narcissism, but he had chosen to stay in the blast radius. "Do you need help? Financially?"
"No," Marcus sighed. "I have my own savings. I'm moving my family out to Denver next month. Getting away from the wreckage."
"Good. That's the smartest thing you've ever done."
"Dad still won't say your name," Marcus added, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "If anyone brings you up, he leaves the room. He tells everyone you 'went rogue' and cut ties over nothing."
"Let him tell whatever story helps him sleep on his new condo's pull-out couch."
"Yeah. Hey, Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for not kicking him out of your office that day. I know you could have humiliated him worse. You showed restraint."
"I didn't show restraint, Marc," I said, looking out our living room window in Charlotte, where Val was tending to a row of potted geraniums on the balcony. "I just didn't care enough to finish him. He did that to himself."
After I hung up, I walked out onto the balcony, wrapping my arms around Val from behind. She leaned back against me, tilting her head up to kiss my cheek.
"Everything alright?" she asked.
"Marcus is moving to Denver."
"Good for him. And for us?"
May you like
"For us," I smiled, burying my face in her hair, "everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be."
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