Chapter 20 - The Seat Beside Me
The final Hartwell account held twelve million dollars.
Money Charles had moved offshore years earlier.
Investigators recovered most of it.
By court order, part went to creditors.
Part went to employees.
Part went to the Mercer restitution fund.
I received nothing.
That was exactly right.
Six months later, Hartwell Hospitality completed restructuring.
Bennett Capital gave up majority control.
I kept one board observer seat for another year, mostly because Naomi said walking away too quickly would be irresponsible.
She was right.
Annoyingly often.
Sienna left Hartwell and opened a forensic accounting firm.
Evelyn started volunteering at a legal aid center.
Julian wrote me once from prison.
I did not answer.
Two years after the wedding, I found the original ivory dress in the back of my closet.
The one I had worn at JFK under my coat.
For a minute, I held it.
Then I donated it.
That spring, I flew to Chicago for a conference.
At JFK, the gate agent scanned my boarding pass.
"Traveling alone?"
"Yes."
She smiled.
"Enjoy the flight."
I did.
The seat beside me stayed empty until the doors closed.
I looked at it and remembered another empty seat.
The one I canceled twenty-three hours after becoming a wife.
At the time, I thought I was walking away from a ruined honeymoon.
I was actually walking toward the truth.
Don't make this weird.
Don't ask questions.
Trust me.
Sign here.
Avoid the scene.
Be reasonable.
Smile.
I had done all of those things.
Until I didn't.
The plane lifted over Queens.
Manhattan shrank beneath the clouds.
I opened my laptop and reviewed a new investment proposal.
A flight attendant stopped beside me.
"Would you like anything?"
I looked at the empty seat, then back at her.
"Coffee, please."
"Anything else?"
I smiled.
May you like
"No. That's enough."
And for the first time in a long time, enough felt exactly like freedom.
