Chapter 10 - The Empty Mansion
By noon, the mansion was dead silent.
The caterers had packed up their silver trays and left. The guests had fled in shame, eager to distance themselves from the scandal that was already breaking on local news channels. The music was gone. The champagne was gone.
Only Marcus, Detective Harris, and I remained in the vast, empty living room.
Marcus walked through the grand foyer, placing a red state-seal sticker across the heavy front doors.
"The property is officially frozen under court order as a crime scene and asset recovery zone," Marcus said, handing me a set of new master keys. "All bank accounts associated with Evelyn and Victoria have been frozen by the state. Their cars are being towed as we speak."
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out toward the back of the property—toward the dark, rusted shed tucked behind the rose garden.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from the private nurse I had hired to stay with Elena and Julian at the hotel:
Elena ate a full meal and is resting. Julian is playing with the toy train you bought him. He keeps asking when you’re coming back.
I felt a tear slip down my cheek, but for the first time in five years, it wasn't a tear of anger or despair. It was the feeling of a heavy, suffocating iron chain breaking off my chest.
Detective Harris walked up beside me, holding a police notepad. "Mr. Hayes, the DA wants to know if you're willing to testify against your mother and sister in court. Given the severity of the charges, they're looking at a minimum of fifteen years in state prison."
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I looked down at the keys in my hand—the keys to the house I had sacrificed five years of my life to build.
"I won't just testify, Detective," I said, turning to face him. "I'll make sure they serve every single day."
