Chapter 8 - The Reclamation
Over the next six months, the collapse of the Vance empire was total, swift, and absolute.
Without the ability to secure emergency loans, Arthur Vance’s car dealerships were forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The iconic Cherry Hills estate—where the infamous dinner had taken place—was put up for public auction by the bank to satisfy millions in unpaid mortgages.
Victoria Vance was forced to sell her luxury jewelry collection, her designer handbags, and her sports car just to afford a modest two-bedroom rented apartment on the outskirts of Lakewood.
Julian Vance—my ex-brother-in-law who had refused to defend his wife—was fired from his executive position at the dealership and was currently facing civil lawsuits from former employees for unpaid wages.
Meanwhile, my life began to flourish in ways I had never imagined.
With Diego completely removed from my life, I threw myself into my work. My architecture firm awarded me the lead designer position on a fifty-million-dollar sustainable residential tower project in downtown Denver.
My Capitol Hill condo became a sanctuary of peace, warmth, and laughter.
Natalie had secured a position as an event director at a premier hotel downtown, earning her own independent income for the first time in ten years. Her two daughters were thriving in a local private school, their laughter filling the hallways where silence and fear had once ruled.
One warm Saturday afternoon in July, Natalie and I sat on the balcony of my condo, sipping iced white wine while the girls played board games in the living room.
"I got the final divorce decree in the mail this morning," Natalie said, leaning back against the outdoor sofa with a long, peaceful sigh. "Julian signed the custody agreement. He gets supervised visits once a month."
I smiled, raising my glass toward her. "To freedom, Natalie."
"To freedom," she echoed, clinking her glass against mine. "And to never letting a man tell us what we're worth ever again."
My phone chimed on the table.
It was an alert from the Colorado Department of Corrections notification system:
NOTIFICATION: Inmate Vance, Diego (ID: #409281) has been transferred to the Sterling Correctional Facility to begin serving his four-year state prison sentence following his guilty plea to Aggravated Assault and Extortion.
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I looked at the notification for three seconds.
Then, without a single trace of anger, bitterness, or regret, I slid my finger across the screen and hit Delete.
