Chapter 12 - Behind Iron Bars
Three days later, I sat across from my mother in the visitor's room at the Cook County Department of Corrections.
A thick sheet of bulletproof glass separated us. Evelyn wore a drab orange jumpsuit, her flawless silver hair now messy and unwashed, her wrists chafed red from metal cuffs. The emerald silk and sparkling diamonds were long gone.
When she picked up the black telephone receiver on her side, her eyes burned with bitter resentment.
"Are you happy now, Daniel?" she spat into the phone, her voice crackling through the small speaker. "Look at what you’ve done to your own family! Your sister is crying herself to sleep in a cell because of you! People are talking about us on the news!"
I picked up my receiver, keeping my voice cold and measured. "You stopped being my family the moment you locked my son in a dark room and let him starve, Evelyn."
"I did what I had to do!" she snapped, pounding a fist against the metal counter. "That girl was taking you away from us! You were giving her everything, and what about me? What about Victoria? I gave you life! You owed me that money!"
I stared at her through the glass, realization washing over me. She felt no remorse. She didn't care about Julian’s bruised bones or Elena’s hollow eyes. In her twisted mind, she was the victim.
"The District Attorney offered a plea deal this morning," I said quietly.
Evelyn’s eyes flashed with a flicker of hope. "A plea deal? How long? Probation?"
"Twenty years for you. Twelve years for Victoria," I replied smoothly. "Marcus and I advised them not to offer anything lighter. And if you force this to go to trial, Marcus will present every bank record, every photo, and every medical report. The jury will give you thirty."
Evelyn’s face turned ghastly pale. She slammed the phone against the glass. "You monster! You're my son! You can't do this to me!"
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"I didn't do this to you," I said, slamming the receiver onto its cradle. "You bought this sentence with every dollar you stole from my child's mouth."
I stood up, turned my back on her hysterical screams, and walked out into the sunlight.
