Chapter 7 - THE PURGATORY OF THE UNWANTED
The holding cell smelled of stale cigarettes,
bleach,
and the collective despair of a hundred men who had come before me.
I sat on the narrow bench,
the sound of a dripping faucet echoing in the small space.
Every drop felt like a hammer blow to my skull.
Marcus arrived four hours later,
looking like he had aged a decade in a single night.
"I can't get you out,
Julian,"
he said,
leaning against the bars.
"The bail is set at five million,
and since your assets are frozen,
you might as well be asking for the moon."
"Five million?"
I whispered,
my voice raspy.
"That’s insane."
"The DA is making an example of you,"
Marcus replied,
shaking his head.
"They have the ledgers,
the recordings,
and the testimony of your business partners.
Everyone is flipping on you,
Julian.
They’re all claiming you coerced them into the kickback schemes."
"And Claire?"
I asked,
knowing the answer but needing to hear it.
"She’s been granted a temporary order of protection for herself and the child.
She’s also filed for a summary judgment on the divorce,
citing 'egregious criminal conduct' as grounds for an immediate dissolution of the marriage."
I leaned my head back against the cold brick wall.
"She planned this perfectly."
"She didn't just plan it,"
Marcus said,
his voice lowering.
"She executed it with the precision of a professional hit.
She’s already liquidated your personal art collection.
She’s sold the Hampton house to a private buyer for cash.
She’s stripping you of everything before the trial even starts."
"Where is Noah?"
I asked,
the image of my son’s empty crib flashing in my mind.
"She’s gone underground,"
Marcus said.
"Even her mother won't tell me where they are.
The court has appointed a guardian ad litem for the child,
but given the criminal charges against you,
your visitation rights are effectively non-existent."
I felt a sudden,
sharp pain in my chest.
I had spent so much time ignoring that child,
treating him as an obligation or an accessory to my perfect life,
and now that he was gone,
the loss was a physical wound.
"Vanessa?"
I asked,
almost as an afterthought.
"She’s gone too,"
Marcus said with a grimace.
"She vanished the morning after she moved out of the penthouse.
Word is,
she’s in the Caribbean,
living on a 'settlement' provided by a private trust."
I closed my eyes.
The betrayal was complete.
The woman I thought loved me had been bought by the woman I had betrayed.
And I was left in a cage,
waiting for a judgment that had already been passed.
The guard came by and rattled the bars,
signaling that our time was up.
"Find a way,
Marcus,"
I pleaded,
grabbing the bars.
"Find a way to get me a message to her.
I need to talk to her."
"She doesn't want to talk,
Julian,"
Marcus said as he turned to leave.
"She wants you to watch.
She wants you to watch as everything you ever valued turns to ash."
I watched him walk away,
his footsteps fading into the distance.
I was alone.
Truly,
utterly alone.
May you like
And for the first time in my life,
I realized that the "luxury" I had surrounded myself with was just a gilded shroud.
