I didn’t forgive Chloe overnight, and neither did Maya.

But she began to make real amends through her actions.

She filed for divorce, gave up any claim to Mark’s assets, took a job at a logistics firm, and cooperated fully with the DA to help recover the victims’ money.

She took over the full-time care of our stroke-impaired mother and raised Noah under legal guardianship, and she never again used him as a reason to ask me for money.

Chapter 6 — The Trial

Three months later, Mark’s criminal trial began.

The courtroom was full of working families who’d taken out second mortgages or emptied retirement accounts to pay for his fake visa contracts.

Mark appeared in an orange jumpsuit, thin and haggard, stripped of the slick arrogance he’d once worn like armor.