Chapter 8 - The Ruin
The fallout was absolute.
Unable to pay the court-ordered restitution, Valerie was forced to liquidate everything she owned. Her designer wardrobe, her luxury SUV, her expensive jewelry—all auctioned off by the state to pay me back.
The criminal charges for the theft landed her a plea deal of three years of rigorous probation and five hundred hours of community service. The HOA president, the boutique marketing manager, the woman who thought she was better than everyone else, was now spending her weekends picking up trash along the county highway in an orange vest.
And Mark? The money dried up, and so did their marriage.
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Without my house to steal and my bank accounts to drain, Valerie’s true colors turned entirely on Mark. The stress of the debt and the social exile shattered them. Six months after the eviction, Mark filed for divorce.
He moved into a tiny, rundown apartment on the other side of the city. He had lost his wife, his home, his reputation, and his mother. All because he had chosen to be a coward.
