Chapter 16: Eleanor's Fall
Chapter 16: Eleanor's Fall
While we were quietly building a new life by the lake, Eleanor’s life was rapidly, publicly unravelling.
Vance kept me updated on the legal proceedings via email so I wouldn't be blindsided by news headlines. The local prosecutor, deeply disturbed by the evidence, had decided to move forward with aggressive criminal charges based on the medical reports from Dr. Evans and the undeniable security footage.
Eleanor was officially arrested at her motel, handcuffed in front of a local news crew, and charged with criminal neglect of a minor and reckless endangerment.
The trial was incredibly brief. Faced with the iron-clad video and audio evidence, her defense attorney advised her to take a plea deal to avoid hard jail time. She stood before a judge, looking hollow and defeated, and pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to three years of intense probation, mandatory weekly psychological counseling, and three hundred hours of hard community service.
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Her reputation was completely destroyed. She filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a month later, entirely blacklisted from the interior design community, her name synonymous with cruelty. She had tried to throw away my daughter like garbage, and in the end, she was the one who lost everything she valued.
I didn't celebrate her downfall. I simply deleted Vance's email, blocked her name from my mind forever, and went back to helping Maya with her math homework.
