Chapter 18 - The Last Reckoning of Michelle
The visitation room at the Maricopa County Detention Center smelled of heavy disinfectant and stale coffee.
Michelle Vance sat behind the scratched plexiglass divider,
her hair matted,
her face hollow,
and her orange jumpsuit hanging loosely off her frail shoulders.
She had spent three months in solitary confinement awaiting trial,
abandoned by her lawyers and forgotten by high society.
The iron door opened,
and Victoria walked into the room,
dressed in an immaculate cream trench coat that stood out against the drab gray walls.
Michelle snatched up the plastic telephone receiver,
her hands shaking wildly against the shelf.
Victoria sat down slowly,
picking up her phone with effortless composure.
"Victoria!"
Michelle sobbed frantically,
banging her forehead against the glass.
"Please,"
"you have to help me!"
"The prosecutors are offering a twenty-year plea deal!"
"I will die in here,
Victoria!"
"We were best friends in college,"
Michelle begged,
her voice crackling through the cheap speaker.
"Remember how we used to help each other?"
"I made a mistake,"
"I was envious of your success,"
"I was jealous because Christopher gave you everything!"
Victoria stared at Michelle through the glass,
her eyes cold,
calm,
and completely detached.
"Christopher gave me nothing,
Michelle,"
Victoria said,
her voice smooth and unforgiving.
"I built my wealth with my own mind,"
"while you spent years scheming to steal what you could never earn."
"You took my best friend's role and turned it into a weapon,"
"you tried to humiliate me with stolen children,"
"and you calculated my destruction down to the last dollar."
"I was desperate!"
Michelle shrieked,
tears smearing across her unwashed face.
"Raymond promised me I would be a multi-millionaire!"
"He said you were too cold to fight back!"
"He was wrong,"
Victoria replied softly.
"I do not fight with emotion,
Michelle."
"I fight with facts,"
"and the facts have placed you exactly where you belong."
Victoria stood up from her chair,
adjusting her leather gloves.
"This is the last time you will ever see my face,"
Victoria added,
looking down at the sobbing woman.
"Enjoy the remainder of your life in silence."
May you like
Victoria hung up the receiver and walked out of the detention center,
never turning back as Michelle's desperate screams faded behind the heavy steel doors.
