Chapter 9 - Everything They Tried to Steal
Two weeks later, my lawyer called with an update.
Ethan had tried to access Lily’s trust through an old form he had somehow gotten a copy of. The bank had flagged it immediately because of the fraud alert I placed.
Rachel had two warrants in another state for similar scams.
And Ethan’s job — the one he had told me was “stressful” — had actually been in trouble for months. He had been borrowing money from people who were now looking for him.
They hadn’t just been trying to scam me.
They had been desperate.
That night, I sat Lily down and told her the last piece.
“They’re not coming back,” I said. “Not ever. And even if they try, the law is on our side now.”
Lily was quiet for a long time.
Then she asked, “Can we change the locks again? Just to be sure?”
I smiled.
“We already did.”
She nodded, satisfied.
Later, while she did her homework at the kitchen table, I looked around our house — the one that finally felt like ours again.
No more fake confusion in the living room.
No more pressure to sign papers.
No more walking on eggshells around a woman who had never been sick.
May you like
Just me and my daughter.
And for the first time in a very long time, that was enough.
