Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Courtney was pinned down by the police, her eyes locked on me with venomous hatred.
Mark and Casey arrived shortly after.
In just over six months, the once–spirited couple had turned completely gray.
“Emma,” Mark said, his voice trembling, “for the sake of the bond between our families, could you show us some mercy?
“Even if you drop the charges, Seb will still serve several years. With your case added on top, we may not live long enough to see him walk free.”
Their eyes were filled with tears, and despite everything, my heart ached a little.
“Casey,” I said, using the name I’d called her when I was a child, “you once taught me that everyone must take re- sponsibility for their actions.”
I remembered her sitting at the desk, explaining Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” to us.
The main character had only stolen a loaf of bread, and even after becoming a mayor and doing countless good deeds, he still had to answer for his crime.
Sebastian was no different.
Casey’s eyes darkened. After glancing toward the interrogation room, she silently helped Mark up and left with him.
On the day of the public prosecution, Jared, the primary offender, was sentenced to ten years.
Courtney, as an accomplice, got three.
Sebastian received 20 years for intentional harm to Courtney and for aiding in the assault against me, multiple charges combined.
Maybe he really wouldn’t be around to take care of Casey and Mark in their old age.
Not long after, I received a massive wire transfer–over ten million dollars.
I heard that Souza Group had been sold off at a huge loss. I figured the money must have come from Sebastian.
So, I paid him a visit in prison.
He had spent what little money inmates could use to buy things from the outside on bundles of red string.
His bedsheets were stuffed with handmade love knots, and he proudly pulled one out to show me.
“They say if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you get one wish,” he said, eyes bloodshot, voice hoarse, face pale.
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Chapter 10
“So… If weave a thousand lovers‘ knots, do you think I’ll get a second chance with you?”
The prison guard handed me the knot, and without hesitation, I tossed it into the trash can next to me.
“You stopped deserving it the day you shoved the last one into the back of the closet to gather dust.
“Now you want to start over, but I’m only looking forward. I’m going farther, rising higher–toward a future where you don’t exist.”
The speaker crackled with his anguished screams.
I hung up without a second thought,
After I left the prison, I split that money in half and gave it to Mark and Casey for their retirement, at the very least.
The other half I kept for myself. After all, I hadn’t asked for a penny during the lawsuit.
It was marital property–1 was entitled to my share.
I used it to consolidate every channel I could find related to censorship officers in Jacksonville and established the city’s largest content review and monitoring studio.
For videos that deliberately promoted illegal behavior, we pursued accountability at all costs.
In our spare time, we volunteered, traveling and speaking out to raise awareness and protect women and children.
It was only then that I truly understood–my worth was never tied to Sebastian.
It was with the women who had been through the same darkness I had.
For the rest of my life, I will live only for us.
The end.
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