Chapter 16 - Selling the Past
With the criminal trial over, Thomas and I focused on cleaning up the final legal messes.
My mother had owned a small vacation condo in Florida, bought with the money she had siphoned from my father’s accounts years ago. Because of the massive restitution orders handed down by the judge for the money they stole from Elena, the state seized the condo.
It was auctioned off to the highest bidder to repay my wife.
“Every last cent has been recovered,” Thomas said, sitting in our living room and handing me a final settlement check. “They are officially bankrupt, Marcus. When they eventually get out of prison, they will have absolutely nothing. No assets, no credit, no family.”
I took the check and handed it directly to Elena.
“What do you want to do with it?” I asked her.
May you like
Elena looked at the check, then looked around the massive, quiet estate. “Let’s renovate. I want to tear out that freezing patio. I want to build a massive greenhouse in the backyard. I want to fill this place with light, and life, and warmth. I want to erase every single memory of them from this property.”
I smiled, pulling her into a tight hug. “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
