Chapter 10 - The Final Cut
There was a long, stunned silence on the other end of the line.
"You let them arrest your own sister?" my mother shrieked in the background.
"How could you do this to your family, Emily!" my father roared.
"She stole twelve thousand dollars from my name, Dad."
"She put my life and my career in lethal danger."
"I am done paying for her mistakes, and I am done paying your mortgage."
I hung up the phone before they could formulate another toxic response.
I blocked their numbers, erased their contact information, and felt a massive weight lift from my shoulders.
The rain had finally stopped, and the faint light of dawn was beginning to break over the city skyline.
Daniel walked over and stood beside me, watching the police cruisers drive away with the prisoners.
"You did the right thing, Emily," he said quietly.
"I know I did," I agreed, taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air.
"So, your fortieth birthday was pretty memorable after all," he joked, a small smile playing on his lips.
I actually laughed, the sound feeling strange but wonderful in my chest.
"What happens to you now, Daniel?" I asked, looking up at him.
"My undercover work here is finished," he said, turning to face me completely.
"I am going to take a long vacation, and then I am going to try and win back the woman I never stopped loving."
He didn't ask for immediate forgiveness, and he didn't push for a sudden reunion.
He respected me too much for that.
"I think I know a good surgeon who might be free for coffee sometime next month," I smiled softly.
May you like
We walked away from the pier together as the sun rose, leaving the darkness of my past behind forever.
I was forty years old, entirely free, and completely in control of my own life.
