Chapter 23 - The Divorce Settlement
Three weeks after the criminal trial concluded, a family court judge officially dissolved the marriage of Claire and Mark Vance.
The judge granted Claire sole legal and physical custody of baby Emma, with zero visitation rights granted to Mark.
Mark, who had accepted a plea deal for his role as an accessory, received a five-year suspended sentence and probation.
He walked out of the courthouse with no money, no law license, no family, and no home to return to.
Standing on the courthouse steps under a bright Virginia sky, Mark saw Claire holding Emma near her car.
He took two tentative steps toward them, but Claire’s security detail immediately stepped into his path with cold eyes.
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Claire buckled Emma securely into her car seat, closed the door, and drove away into the sunlit afternoon.
Mark stood alone on the pavement, watching the red taillights of her SUV disappear forever.
