Over the next six months, the name Pembroke was completely ruined. People stopped treating them like rich, important people, and only talked about them as criminals in court news. The big fight in the hospital room destroyed their lives completely.
Alistair’s lawyers worked fast with all the bank proof I gave them. With all the hard facts showing how Raymond stole money and used fake papers, Raymond’s lawyers had no defense. Instead of going through a long trial that could give him twenty years in prison, Raymond gave up. He cried in front of the judge and accepted an eight year prison sentence.
Without the stolen money Raymond was taking to pay for their big life, Reginald and Barbara went broke fast.
Alistair asked for his sixty million dollars back just like he said he would. The bankruptcy happened very fast. The bank took away my parents’ huge ten bedroom house in Palm Beach within ninety days. I read the asset reports without feeling sad at all. Without their expensive clothes, fast cars, and rich clubs, my parents were pushed out of the rich world completely.
They had to move into a tiny, cheap two bedroom apartment at the edge of the city. All their rich “friends” stopped talking to them, treating the Pembroke name like a bad disease.
They had no money left, and no status at all.
My life, on the other hand, was full of happiness and freedom. Two months after Kirk was born, Alistair and I got married in a small, quiet wedding at our house by the ocean. I wore a simple white dress, and Alistair smiled happier than I had ever seen him. We made our promises to each other under big oak trees, and all the bad memories of my childhood finally went away.
I did not want to just stay home as a rich wife. I started working at Sanders Holdings, taking charge of a whole business department. When my parents’ old company was broken up and sold by the court, I was the one who bought all their best properties and added them to Alistair’s company.
The older business men on the board learned very quickly to respect me. I bought and fixed companies with smart, clear moves. I knew how bad business people cheated because I watched my family do it for years, and now I used my knowledge to make millions.
One late afternoon, I stood on the big stone balcony of our house by the sea. The cool wind blew through my hair. Down on the green grass, Alistair was running after four year old Kirk, who was laughing and trying to run away with one of his dad’s leather shoes.
“You can’t catch me, Daddy!” Kirk yelled, running as fast as his little legs could go.
“I will catch you!” Alistair laughed, picking him up easily and tossing him in the air while Kirk laughed out loud.
Hearing them laugh filled my heart with real joy. I leaned on the railing, drinking my water and feeling totally at peace. I used to be a scared girl in a hospital bed waiting for mean people to hurt me, but now I was a strong, powerful woman.
The glass door behind me opened quietly. My assistant, Clara, walked out onto the balcony holding a black folder with new business papers for me to sign.
“The business papers are ready for you, Mrs. Sanders,” Clara said politely, giving me a pen.
“Thank you, Clara,” I said, signing my name quickly on the page.
As I gave the folder back, I saw Clara holding a small white paper in her hand. She looked a bit unsure.
“This came in the mail today,” she said, holding out a cheap white envelope. “It has your name on it from the sender, so I thought you should look at it.”
I looked down. The envelope had red stamps from a prison mail room. And written on the front in messy, quick handwriting was my name.
It was a letter from Raymond, reaching out from the prison cell I put him in.
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