Chapter 17 - Grandpa’s Empty House
A year later, the Beaumont estate was sold.
Isabelle was asked to collect personal belongings before closing.
She didn’t want to go alone.
So we went together.
Toby stayed with Mrs. Johns.
The driveway had been resurfaced.
I stood looking at the clean concrete.
No stain.
No evidence.
Nothing to show what had happened there.
Isabelle took my hand.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
We entered anyway.
The house felt smaller.
Richard’s office had been emptied by investigators.
Family portraits still covered the hallway.
Isabelle removed one photograph of herself as a child.
Then she surprised me.
She left everything else.
“Don’t you want them?”
“No.”
Outside, she stopped near the driveway.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she took a small envelope from her purse.
“What’s that?”
“A letter.”
“To your father?”
She nodded.
“Are you sending it?”
“No.”
She tore it in half.
Then again.
And dropped the pieces into a trash bag.
“What did it say?”
She looked at the house.
“Goodbye.”
We drove away without looking back.
That evening, Toby asked whether Grandpa’s house was gone.
“Someone else will live there.”
“Do they know?”
“Know what?”
“What happened.”
I considered the question.
“They don’t need to.”
Toby smiled.
“Good.”
He returned to his Lego spaceship.
For him, that house was becoming history.
For me, that was the best possible ending.
But one final chapter remained.
Andrew Vale was about to be sentenced.
May you like
And before the judge spoke, Andrew asked permission to address me.
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