Chapter 11
By early afternoon, the police tape had been removed from the front entrance, replaced by a chaotic swarm of media reporters shouting questions that went entirely unanswered. Inside the mansion, the heavy silence of transition had settled over the halls.
Clara stood in the master bedroom of the East Wing, packing a single leather suitcase with her and Lily’s belongings. The room felt foreign, stripped of the emotional weight she had carried within its walls for five agonizing years. On the bed lay the light blue frilly dress Lily had worn the previous evening—now cleaned of blood, folded neatly, and ready to be left behind like an old skin she no longer needed to wear.
A soft knock sounded at the open bedroom door.
Evelyn stood in the threshold, wearing a simple beige trench coat over her clothes. The ruined white suit was gone, replaced by attire suited for travel. She looked tired, but there was a quiet clarity in her eyes that Clara had never seen before.
"Are you leaving for the country estate?" Clara asked, zipping her suitcase shut.
"Yes," Evelyn replied, stepping into the room. "The legal team is filing the divorce papers by Monday. I’m taking my settlement in cash and real estate abroad. Julian has agreed not to contest it, mostly because he’s too busy trying to keep his own legal defense fund afloat."
Clara nodded slowly. "And Lily? How is she holding up?"
"She’s sleeping in the back of the car with Dr. Hayes on standby," Evelyn said softly. "She asked if she could bring her favorite stuffed bear. I told her she could bring as many as she wanted." Evelyn paused, looking around the opulent, sterile room. "Are you going back to your parents' place in Vermont?"
"No," Clara said, a faint smile touching her lips. "I rented a small house near the coast. Just a simple place with a wooden porch and no grand staircases. Just flat floors and a lot of sunlight."
Evelyn walked over, extending her hand. Clara looked at it for a moment, then bypassed the handshake entirely, stepping forward and pulling Evelyn into a warm, fierce embrace. The two women held onto each other for a long moment—survivors of a shipwreck, bound by fire and blood.
May you like
"Thank you, Evelyn," Clara whispered against her shoulder.
"Thank you, Clara," Evelyn replied, pulling back with a genuine smile. "We made it out."
