Chapter 10 - THE DAY I WALKED AWAY WITH EVERYTHING THAT MATTEREDSix months later, I stood outside the courthouse in Boston holding a manila envelope.
Inside was the final judgment dissolving my marriage.
Eleven years.
Reduced to signatures, property schedules, financial disclosures, and a judge's approval.
I expected to feel grief.
Instead, I felt strangely calm.
The past six months had changed everything.
Victor Lang had been arrested following a criminal investigation into the financial transactions involving his companies.
Prosecutors had charged him with multiple financial offenses, including allegations connected to fraudulent documents and the diversion of company funds.
He denied the charges.
The criminal proceedings were ongoing.
Nathan Prescott had also been charged in connection with the disputed transactions and document scheme.
His attorney had announced that he intended to cooperate with investigators.
Jasmine Cole had provided records and testimony through her own attorney.
Her involvement remained subject to legal scrutiny.
The forty-eight million dollars hadn't simply reappeared overnight.
But the company had recovered a substantial portion through bank cooperation and court proceedings, while additional recovery actions continued.
The seventy-five-million-dollar transfer had never been completed.
And Prescott Global had survived.
Not because I had snapped my fingers.
Not because I had secretly ordered an entire corporation to obey me.
But because a group of people had worked through a difficult restructuring without abandoning the business.
Helen Foster remained chief executive.
The company had sold several underperforming assets, renegotiated debt with its lenders, strengthened its financial controls, and retained most of its major customers.
Some departments had been reorganized.
A limited number of jobs had been eliminated despite efforts to find alternatives.
Those employees received transition assistance under the company's approved plan.
It wasn't the fairy-tale outcome where nothing bad happened to anyone.
It was a real recovery.
People had made difficult decisions.
And the business was finally stable enough to move forward.
Aaron no longer worked at Prescott Global.
The board had terminated his employment following the investigation and denied the disputed executive payout.
He remained subject to civil and regulatory proceedings related to his conduct.
His lawyers were handling those matters.
Our divorce was separate.
After months of negotiations, we had reached a settlement based on the prenuptial agreement, verified marital assets, and applicable law.
My inherited interests in the Reed Family Trust remained mine.
Aaron withdrew his attempt to obtain rights over those assets.
The marital estate was divided under the approved settlement.
I kept my mother's townhouse.
Aaron retained certain personal assets after satisfying the obligations assigned to him.
The Brookline mansion was sold.
I didn't attend the closing.
I had no desire to see the house where Jasmine had worn my mother's robe.
Some memories weren't worth revisiting.
Outside the courthouse, Sarah stood beside me.
"How do you feel?"
I looked at the envelope.
"Like I can finally breathe."
She smiled.
"That's a good start."
A few feet away, Aaron stood near his attorney.
He looked older.
His hair had more gray.
His shoulders had lost the confident stiffness I'd once mistaken for strength.
He saw me and hesitated.
Then he approached.
"Claire."
Sarah looked at me.
I nodded.
"It's okay."
Aaron stopped a respectful distance away.
"Can we talk for a moment?"
I considered it.
Then said, "A moment."
Sarah stepped aside but remained nearby.
Aaron looked at the envelope in my hand.
"So that's it."
"Yes."
He nodded.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then he looked at me.
"I've been thinking about our first apartment."
I hadn't expected that.
"The one above the bakery?"
He smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
The memory came back immediately.
The tiny kitchen.
The radiator that hissed all night.
The bakery downstairs that filled the hallway with the smell of cinnamon rolls.
We'd been happy there.
Or at least, I had.
Aaron rubbed his hands together.
"I used to think getting rich would make everything easier."
I looked at him.
"And did it?"
He shook his head.
"No."
A breeze moved through the courthouse plaza.
He stared at the pavement.
"I ruined our marriage."
I said nothing.
"I know the affair wasn't Victor's fault. He may have manipulated other things, but I made that choice."
"Yes," I said.
Aaron swallowed.
"I wanted you to know I'm not going to blame anyone else for that."
I appreciated the words.
But I didn't need them to change my decision.
"Thank you."
He looked at me.
"Are you happy?"
The question caught me off guard.
I thought about the last six months.
The sleepless nights.
The meetings.
May you like
The investigation.
The grief of realizing
