Chapter 20 - Valerie’s Last AttemptThe plea hearing was scheduled for the following month.
The divorce settlement moved separately.
Financial recovery continued.
The mansion became calmer.
Then Valerie wrote Colin a letter.
Not through her attorney.
Directly.
His lawyer advised him not to respond.
Colin read it once.
Colin,
You have made me into a monster because that is easier than admitting you failed everyone first.
He nearly stopped there.
But continued.
Valerie accused him of abandoning the marriage.
Of living inside Audrey’s memory.
Of leaving household responsibilities to her.
Some parts were manipulative.
Some parts were true.
Colin had been absent.
He had been emotionally unavailable.
He had expected Valerie to manage a family he did not spend enough time with.
Then Valerie crossed the line she always crossed.
Sienna understood exactly how to use your guilt.
Colin folded the letter.
No.
His failures did not excuse hers.
That distinction had taken him too long to learn.
A person could admit responsibility without accepting blame for another person’s cruelty.
He placed the letter in an evidence envelope for his attorney.
He did not answer.
That afternoon, Sienna found him in the yellow room.
Shelves had been installed.
Art supplies covered one wall.
The treadmill was gone.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I do that.”
“You do.”
She sat beside him.
“Can the reading chair go there?”
She pointed toward the former treadmill space.
“Yes.”
“A big one?”
“Yes.”
“Big enough for two?”
Colin smiled.
“Three.”
“Why three?”
“Mercedes.”
Sienna laughed.
“Mercedes doesn’t sit. She tells everyone what to do.”
From the hallway Mercedes shouted:
“I heard that.”
Sienna’s eyes widened.
Then all three laughed.
Colin realized how different laughter sounded when no one was afraid of who heard it.
The settlement recovered the condominium.
Valerie relinquished any claim to it.
The property would eventually be sold, with proceeds applied toward restitution.
Frozen funds remained frozen.
Her claims against Colin’s premarital assets collapsed under the prenup and fraud allegations.
She retained rights to her separate personal property and negotiated limited financial terms through counsel.
It was not a dramatic stripping-away of everything.
Real divorces were paperwork.
Calculations.
Compromise.
What mattered to Colin was simpler.
She would not live in the house.
She would not control Sienna.
She would not control the lake property.
One evening, Mercedes asked Colin whether she should remain employed.
The question startled him.
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Things are changing.”
“Yes.”
“You may want privacy.”
Colin stared at her.
“You protected my daughter.”
Mercedes looked uncomfortable.
“I did what anyone should.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You did what someone should. That doesn’t mean everyone would.”
Mercedes looked toward the stairs.
“I don’t want Sienna thinking I stayed because she needs a guard.”
Colin understood.
“What do you want?”
“To stay.”
“Then stay.”
“But things should be different.”
“How?”
“You should be here.”
The words were not disrespectful.
They were true.
Colin nodded.
“I’m changing my schedule.”
Mercedes raised an eyebrow.
“Changing or pretending?”
He almost laughed.
“Changing.”
He had already appointed an operating president at the company.
Canceled several nonessential trips.
Moved two board commitments.
Not because he intended to hover over Sienna forever.
Because presence required actual time.
The night before Valerie’s plea hearing, Colin walked past Sienna’s room.
The door was open.
She was asleep.
Her blue tablet sat charging on the desk.
Investigators had returned it after preserving the data.
Colin stepped inside.
On the screen was a new stop-motion project.
A small wooden girl stood in front of a paper mansion.
Behind her, a drawn road stretched away.
The next frame showed the girl walking toward sunlight.
Colin smiled.
Then he noticed the project title.
GOING FORWARD
He stood there for a long time.
May you like
The treadmill had once forced Sienna to crawl forward while the belt dragged her backward.
Now, for the first time, she was choosing what forward meant.
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