Chapter 19 - The Day They Lost Their Perfect Victim|
Six weeks after the gala, Mercer Financial became the center of a major criminal investigation.
Regulators and investigators were examining the collateral transactions, forged authorizations, related lending records, and payments connected to Roland Shaw's healthcare investments.
The jewelry wasn't the biggest problem anymore.
It was merely the object that had exposed everything else.
Owen Pierce provided records supporting his earlier complaints.
Vanessa Cole submitted emails describing how she'd been pressured to accept responsibility for irregularities she hadn't caused.
Evelyn Price turned over Elise's files.
Cecilia Grant supplied documentation of the medical-contract concerns she'd reported years earlier.
And Tessa Lane, accompanied by her own attorney, began cooperating.
For the first time, people who had been intimidated into silence were telling their stories together.
Colin and Roland were facing criminal allegations.
Their companies were under intense scrutiny.
And the evidence supposedly proving I had taken the necklace was falling apart.
But nothing was resolved overnight.
There were hearings.
Interviews.
Financial reviews.
And endless hours spent with Nadine examining documents.
I learned that justice wasn't a single dramatic moment.
It was often a slow, exhausting process of refusing to let lies become accepted facts.
One morning, Nadine called me.
“June, we have good news.”
I sat upright.
“What?”
“Investigators have informed us that you're not being treated as a suspect in the necklace theft.”
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Tears filled my eyes.
I looked toward the small balcony.
The Chicago skyline glittered beyond the glass.
In my first life, this was the season when my nightmare began.
The arrest.
The accusations.
The newspaper headlines.
The humiliation.
Now I was sitting in my own apartment.
Free.
Alive.
And finally believed.
“June?”
I wiped my cheeks.
“I'm here.”
Nadine's voice softened.
“You did the right thing by coming to me early.”
I laughed through my tears.
“You have no idea.”
Later that afternoon, I attended a legal meeting concerning my separation from Colin.
He sat across the table wearing an expensive suit.
But he looked different now.
Older.
Smaller.
Less certain.
He watched me sign a routine procedural document.
Then said quietly:
“June.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Are you happy?”
The question surprised me.
I thought about my first life.
The prison walls.
The letters nobody answered.
The illness that ended everything.
Then I looked at him.
“I'm learning how to be.”
His face tightened.
“I never wanted things to go this far.”
I studied him.
“Then you should have stopped long before they did.”
He lowered his gaze.
For once, he didn't cry.
For once, I believed he had nothing useful left to say.
Outside, Marlene waited beside her car.
She wore a long black coat and dark sunglasses.
“How did it go?” she asked.
I smiled faintly.
“Better than the first time.”
She went still.
“What did you say?”
My heart skipped.
I hadn't meant to speak those words aloud.
“Nothing.”
But Marlene was staring at me strangely.
Her face had gone pale.
“June.”
“Yes?”
She stepped closer.
“What do you mean by the first time?”
I forced a laugh.
“Just an expression.”
Marlene didn't smile.
Instead, she reached for my hand.
Her fingers were cold.
Then she whispered something that made my entire body freeze.
“October eighth.”
I stared.
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Thursday, October eighth.”
My mouth went dry.
May you like
Then Marlene asked:
“June, when you opened your eyes that morning, did you remember dying?”
