Chapter 7: The Visit to the Holding Facility
Two weeks after the catastrophic wedding, Marissa sat in the sterile, fluorescent-lit visitation booth of the county detention center, her fingers resting lightly on the cold metal table. The acrylic partition between them felt like an appropriate metaphor for the unbridgeable gulf that now separated their lives. On the other side, Gareth sat slumped in an orange jumpsuit, his hair unstyled, his face bearing the pale, hollow look of a man who had not slept properly since his arrest.
The arrogant, polished groom of the wedding video was completely gone, replaced by a defeated defendant facing multiple felony counts that carried a lengthy prison sentence. Gareth looked up, his eyes meeting Marissa’s with a mixture of shame and desperate pleading. He picked up the heavy plastic telephone receiver, and Marissa reluctantly mirrored the action, pressing the cold device to her ear.
"Thank you for coming," Gareth’s voice rasped through the small speaker, thin and distant. "I didn't think you would ever speak to me again."
"I didn't come here for you, Gareth," Marissa said, her voice entirely devoid of malice, carrying instead an icy, detached neutrality. "I came because my lawyer advised that we clear up the remaining asset transfers regarding the family trust before the plea deal is finalized next Tuesday. Once those signatures are secured, there will be nothing left connecting us."
Gareth flinched as if struck, his gaze dropping to the scarred metal table. "Marissa... I know I destroyed everything. I know what I did to the estate, to you, to little Lily... I was driven by a sickness, a desperate need to prove I was better than everyone else. But we grew up in the same house. You know how hard the old man was on us."
"Don't you dare," Marissa interrupted, her voice rising just enough to cut through the static, though she maintained strict emotional control. "Do not blame our father for your greed, Gareth. Plenty of people grow up under pressure and choose integrity over theft. You chose deceit every single day, and you dragged an innocent six-year-old child into your web of lies to cover your tracks."
Gareth squeezed his eyes shut, a single tear cutting down his pale cheek. He had no defense left, no clever spin to save his ego. "Is Lily... is she okay?"
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"She is safe, she is loved, and she will never have to know your world," Marissa replied firmly. "Sign the transfer documents, Gareth. That is the only constructive thing you can do to pay for what you've broken."
She hung up the receiver without waiting for his final acknowledgment, stood up from the metal stool, and walked out of the visitation room without looking back once. The final tie was severed.
