Chapter 16 - The Final Blow
The fall of Thomas Reed was unlike any scandal I had ever seen.
Because he was tied to so many high-level political figures, his arrest triggered a series of government resignations that reached all the way to the state house.
The public didn't know the half of it.
They knew about the fraud, but they didn't know about the connections to my past, to my wedding, or to the web of lies that Ethan had used to try and destroy my life.
I was at the foundation, watching the news, when I saw a familiar face on the screen.
It was Ethan.
He was being led into a courtroom for his final sentencing.
He looked old.
His hair was thinning, and his eyes were dull.
He was being charged with additional counts of racketeering related to the Northstar Meridian evidence we had unearthed.
He looked at the camera, but his eyes were vacant.
He was a broken man, a hollow shell of the charming prince I had thought I married.
My father stood behind me.
"Do you want to go?"
I shook my head.
"It’s not necessary."
"He’ll be in there for a long time."
"Good."
I looked at the foundation files.
There were still so many women who needed help.
The war against the men who used the world as their personal playground was not over.
But for the first time, I felt like I was winning.
I turned off the TV.
I had a foundation to run.
I walked out of the office, and the city felt lighter.
I was no longer the bride who hid under the bed.
I was the woman who had stood on the balcony of a life meant for her, and she had built it brick by brick.
May you like
I was free.
And that was the greatest victory of all.
