Chapter 14 - DUST AND DIAMONDS
Six months after the trial, the Chicago financial district was waking up to a new reality.
On the forty-second floor of the gleaming new Bennett-Sterling Tower, sunlight poured through floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
I sat behind a massive walnut desk, reviewing quarterly investment reports for my newly founded equity firm.
No bodyguards.
No whispered secrets in dark rooms.
Just clean, legitimate power built on my own terms.
My phone rang on the desk.
Marcus answered from the outer office.
“Claire, there’s a courier downstairs delivering a package for you.”
“Send it up.”
A few minutes later, a heavy wooden box was placed on my desk.
I opened the brass latch.
Inside sat my diamond wedding ring.
Resting beside it was a handwritten note in Adrian’s bold, familiar cursive:
You were right about everything. I chose my empire, and it buried me. I hope you found the life you deserved.
— Adrian.
I picked up the ring, stared at the sparkling stones for a long moment, and then tossed it into the recycling bin beside my desk.
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I didn't need reminders of old cages.
I had built a palace of my own.
