CHAPTER 15: THE NEW CHAPTER
That evening, we held a small dinner at our favorite quiet Italian restaurant downtown—the same place I used to take Lily when she was a little girl, long before Victoria entered our lives.
As we sat over warm pasta and fresh bread, Lily’s phone buzzed on the tablecloth.
She checked the screen. It was an automated notification from the State Victim Registry.
Victoria Vance’s mandatory probation period had officially expired. Her court-ordered community service was complete. Under the terms of the permanent injunction, she was legally required to relocate out of the county and was barred from residing within fifty miles of our family property.
Lily looked at the screen for three seconds, then turned her phone face-down on the linen napkin.
"Everything okay?" I asked gently.
"Her probation ended today," Lily said calmly, taking a bite of her bread.
"How do you feel?"
May you like
Lily paused, thinking for a moment. She looked around the warm restaurant, at the soft candle lighting, at Marcus laughing with the waiter, and then at me.
"I feel nothing," Lily answered honestly. "She isn't a monster in my closet anymore, Dad. She's just a lonely woman who lives in a small apartment, blaming the world for her own choices. I don't carry her anger anymore."
