Chapter 9 - The Woman at My Door
Three months later, someone knocked at 8:00 on a Saturday morning.
I opened the door.
A woman in her early sixties stood there.
"I’m looking for Liam."
"He doesn't live here."
She seemed surprised.
"I'm Patricia."
The name meant nothing.
Then she said, "Sophie's mother."
My body stiffened.
"I won't stay."
She handed me a small box.
"Sophie asked me to give you this."
Inside was the diamond bracelet.
The $8,400 bracelet.
"I don't want this."
"Neither does she."
I stared at Patricia.
"Then return it."
"We tried."
Apparently Liam had purchased it through an intermediary and the return window had expired.
Sophie wanted it sold.
The money donated.
"To what?"
Patricia looked toward Hailey, who was crawling across the living-room rug.
"A women's shelter."
I looked at the bracelet again.
Something purchased with deception could become something useful.
"Okay."
That afternoon, Patricia and I took it to a jeweler.
It sold for far less than Liam paid.
That seemed appropriate.
Every illusion Liam bought had depreciated the moment reality touched it.
The proceeds went to a local family shelter.
I never posted about it.
Neither did Sophie.
Some things didn't need an audience.
But someone found out.
Two weeks later, an envelope arrived.
Inside was a copy of the donation receipt.
Across it, Liam had written:
You two really turned me into the villain. Congratulations.
I stared at the words.
Then I laughed.
Because even now, Liam believed consequences were something other people did to him.
He hadn't understood yet.
But he would.
Because his next court date was approaching.
And this time, the question wasn't our marriage.
May you like
It was the money.
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