Chapter 5 - The Glass House Shatters
Two weeks later.
The County Detention Center was a grey, lifeless concrete building on the outskirts of the city.
I sat behind a thick pane of bulletproof glass in the visitor’s room, holding an internal telephone receiver to my ear.
On the other side of the glass sat Daniel.
He was barely recognizable. The tailored suits, polished shoes, and slicked-back hair were gone. He wore an oversized orange jumpsuit. His face was pale, his eyes sunken and surrounded by dark circles, his hands shaking as he held his receiver.
“Emily...” Daniel rasped, his voice trembling through the phone line. “Emily, thank God you came. You have to talk to Marcus. You have to tell him to drop the federal charges.”
I looked at him calmly, my expression unreadable. “Why would I do that, Daniel?”
“They’re charging me under the RICO Act!” Daniel cried out, tears welling up in his bloodshot eyes. “They’re treating me like a cartel boss! The prosecutor is asking for thirty years in a federal supermax facility! Emily, thirty years! I’ll be sixty-five when I get out!”
“You stole life-saving medication from seventeen patients, Daniel,” I said softly. “You let an eight-year-old girl go into cardiac arrest while you drank wine with your mistress.”
“I was stupid! I was greedy! Vanessa manipulated me!” Daniel blubbered, slamming his fist against the plastic counter. “She told me she needed the money for her debt! She promised we’d move to Spain together! I didn't mean for Lily to get hurt! You have to believe me!”
“I don't care what you meant, Daniel,” I said, my voice deadpan and icy. “Actions have consequences. You taught me that when you said Vanessa was worth more to you than your own daughter.”
Daniel froze, those exact words coming back to haunt him like a ghost rising from the grave.
“Emily... please,” he sobbed, pressing his face against the glass. “We have a mortgage! We have the suburban house! We have our retirement savings! Don't leave me with nothing!”
I reached into my handbag and pulled out a stack of legal documents. I pressed them flat against the glass so he could read the bold red header:
FINAL DECREE OF DIVORCE AND COMPLETE FORFEITURE OF MARITAL ASSETS.
“I placed the suburban house on the market yesterday,” I told him smoothly. “It sold in twelve hours. The proceeds—along with every single penny in our joint savings, your retirement accounts, and your seized luxury vehicles—have been legally awarded to Lily and me under the state’s Criminal Victim Restitution Act.”
Daniel’s jaw dropped. “You... you took everything? Where am I supposed to go if I get out on bail?!”
“You aren't getting out on bail, Daniel,” I said. “Your bail was denied this morning because you are officially classified as a high-risk flight threat.”
I picked up my handbag and stood up from the chair.
“Emily! Wait! Please don't leave me!” Daniel screamed into the phone, banging his open palm against the glass, making the heavy window vibrate. “I’m your husband! I’m Lily’s father!”
I stopped, looked back at him one last time, and leaned close to the phone receiver.
“You ceased being my husband the moment you cheated on me,” I said softly. “And you ceased being Lily’s father the moment you decided her life was worth less than your mistress’s comfort. Goodbye, Daniel.”
May you like
I hung up the phone, set the receiver back on its cradle, and walked out of the visitor’s room without looking back once.
Behind me, the sound of Daniel’s muffled screams and weeping echoed down the concrete hallway until the heavy steel security doors slid shut, sealing him away in the dark world he had made for himself.
