Chapter 17 - The Husband's Fate
One month after Victoria's sentencing, Trevor Vance entered a formal guilty plea to federal wire fraud and financial conspiracy.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, he was sentenced to twelve years in a federal correctional facility in Texarkana.
Before he was transported to the federal penitentiary, he sent a handwritten letter to my legal team begging for a final letter from me.
I opened the letter inside my kitchen, reading his faint pencil strokes written on cheap lined paper.
Sarah,
I know I lost the right to call you my wife the moment I failed to protect you at the funeral.
I spend every hour of every day in this cell hating myself for being so blind to my mother's madness.
I lost my sons, my family, my home, and my soul because I was too weak to stand up to a monster.
I don't expect you to ever forgive me. I just hope that one day Emma knows how deeply I regret failing her.
Goodbye, Sarah.
Trevor.
I folded the letter neatly, walked over to the trash can, and dropped it inside without hesitation.
Trevor wasn't a victim of his mother; he was the enabler who allowed the fire to burn down our home.
He would spend the next decade of his life behind bars, contemplating the catastrophic cost of his spineless obedience.
May you like
I closed the cabinet door, turning my attention to Emma, who was happily playing with her building blocks on the rug.
Our old life was completely gone, but a clean, beautiful future was finally beginning.
