Chapter 39 - Rebuilding from Ashes
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Three months later.
The morning air in the valley was crisp and clean. The scandal of Vance Global and Walker Holdings had dominated national news for weeks, but up in the mountains, the noise of the world felt a million miles away.
With Logan's help, I had officially filed for divorce and severed all legal ties to Walker Holdings. The federal courts had cleared my name completely, accepting my testimony and seizing all frozen offshore assets associated with my father and Victor Vance. My father was serving a twenty-year sentence in a federal prison in California.
Ethan had moved to a small town across the state line in Oregon. He sent letters every week—letters I kept unopened in a wooden drawer in my bedroom—and paid child support through a court-monitored account. He respected the boundary I had drawn, never showing up at the cabin, waiting patiently for a forgiveness I wasn't sure I could ever give.
I sat on the wooden porch of my new house—a cozy, restored farmhouse nestled against the forest edge—watching Noah play with a red toy truck in the dirt while Lily napped inside.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't living in the shadow of my father's empire or my husband's secrets. I was just Clara.
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A white delivery van pulled up to the mailbox at the end of the long dirt driveway.
I stood up, wiping my hands on my jeans, watching as the courier stepped out.
