Chapter 9: The Ghost of the Past
As the year drew to a close, the news occasionally filtered in from her old life. The Whitmore company stocks had taken a massive hit, struggling to recover from the PR nightmare of the trial. Preston was serving his time in a medium-security facility, stripped of his bespoke suits and his sycophants.
Arthur and Eleanor had tried to maintain their social standing, but the elite circles they so desperately clung to had quietly ostracized them. Their friends didn't want the taint of the scandal rubbing off on their own families. In their frantic attempt to protect their reputation, Arthur and Eleanor had ended up entirely isolated.
Evelyn never spoke to them again. She ignored the letters that came through their lawyers. She changed her phone number. She didn't need their apologies, and she didn't need their revenge. The truth had done everything that justice required. The past was a closed book, gathering dust on a shelf she would never touch again.
