Chapter 8 - The Trap Set in Gold
Victoria’s insane laughter echoed down the hallway as Andrew and Evelyn left the interrogation room.
When they stepped out of the police precinct,
the rain had finally stopped,
leaving the city streets glistening under the night lights.
Andrew wrapped his heavy wool coat around Evelyn’s shoulders,
holding her close as they walked toward their private car.
“Is it really over?”
Evelyn asked,
looking up at the stars peeking through the clouds.
“It’s over,”
Andrew promised,
kissing her forehead.
“The legal team is already processing the restoration of your identity.
By next week,
you will officially exist again.”
When they returned to the estate,
the boys were waiting in the main foyer,
refusing to go to sleep until their parents returned.
Leo ran forward,
wrapping his arms around Evelyn’s waist,
followed closely by little Toby.
“Mommy,
are you going to stay forever now?”
Toby asked,
his big brown eyes filled with hope.
Evelyn dropped to her knees,
hugging both of her sons tightly against her chest.
“I am never leaving you again,”
Evelyn promised,
her tears soaking into their soft pajamas.
“Not ever.”
Andrew knelt beside them,
wrapping his long arms around all three of them,
completing the family circle that had been broken for three long,
agonizing years.
The grand foyer,
once cold and filled with the shadows of deceit,
now felt warm and alive.
Thomas the butler watched from the hallway,
quietly wiping a tear from his eye before slipping away to prepare hot cocoa.
Inside the study,
Andrew took down the framed black-and-white photograph of Evelyn that had sat on his desk as a silent memorial.
He walked over to the fireplace,
looked at it one last time,
and placed it gently inside a drawer.
He didn’t need a photograph of a ghost anymore.
The living woman,
his true wife,
May you like
was standing in the nursery down the hall,
singing their children to sleep.
