Chapter 26 - The Final Divorce Decree
The criminal trial was over, but I wasn't finished. I wanted to ensure that Grant Carlisle was erased from my life in every conceivable legal and financial metric.
Two weeks after the sentencing, Sarah Jenkins walked into the maximum-security visitation room at the state prison, carrying a thick stack of finalized divorce papers. I stood beside her, watching through the thick, bulletproof glass as Grant was led into the booth.
He looked like a ghost. His head had been shaved, and a fresh, ugly bruise bloomed across his cheekbone—a quick lesson that child abusers do not fare well in the general prison population.
He picked up the heavy plastic phone receiver with trembling hands. "Evelyn," he rasped, his voice sounding hollow and dead.
I picked up my receiver, staring at him with absolute indifference. "I am only here to watch you sign, Grant. Sarah will explain the terms."
Sarah stepped up to the glass, speaking clearly into the microphone. "Grant, this is a total forfeiture decree. You are voluntarily relinquishing all parental rights to Lily Carlisle. You will never see her, contact her, or request updates on her welfare again. Furthermore, you are assuming ten million dollars in civil debt for the emotional distress lawsuit you lost by default when you went to prison. Any money you ever make in the commissary, any inheritance you ever receive, will immediately be garnished and transferred to Lily's trust."
Grant stared at the paperwork the guard slid through the heavy steel slot. He didn't even read it. He just picked up the pen and scrawled his signature on the bottom line.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into the phone, tears welling in his empty eyes. "I ruined everything."
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"You didn't ruin anything," I corrected him coldly. "You just removed yourself from our lives. Lily and I are going to be magnificent without you."
I hung up the phone before he could respond, turned my back on the glass, and walked out of the prison into the bright, freezing Colorado sunlight. I was entirely, legally, and spiritually free.
