45. Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Five
Ava
Iuse my mother one last time, but I go to her myself.
Make it seem like everything is okay between us again.
To avoid a scandal, I need a judge who’ll dissolve Raul’s paternity without question.
The appearance of being on the same page about the Tucker legacy in Bellerive is enough.
Without hesitation, she gives me a name, and Caitlin puts the paperwork in motion to solidify my divorce and rectify Stephen’s position as Landon’s rightful father.
All my personal belongings that I don’t need immediately, I transfer to storage for whenever Stephen and I decide where and how we’ll live.
Six weeks after Raul signs the divorce papers, it really feels like my life is coming together, finally.
“How are you doing?” Stephen asks as we load Landon into the car to head to Sawyer’s house for a family meeting.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Stopping my mother is the right thing to do, but that doesn’t make it easy. The better my life is, the harder it is to cling to my anger and resentment.”
He nods and gets into the car. I slide into the front seat beside him.
“You don’t have to cling to anything,” Stephen says before he starts the car. “You get to decide.”
“If I let her crimes go, I become part of the problem, and I don’t want to be that person anymore. The one who doesn’t notice. Doesn’t care. Because I do care. Other people should get to be as happy as I am. The only happiness Raul and my mother have ever cared about is their own.”
“Can we play mini-sticks when we get there?” Landon asks from the back seat.
“Your Uncle Logan told me he was setting up a whole tournament,” I say.
“Stephen, can you play too?”
“I’m going to be in the meeting with the adults, buddy. But I’ll definitely take you some other day.”
“I love playing games,” Landon says, staring out the window.
“So do I,” Stephen says quietly.
We haven’t told Landon the truth yet, and that was Stephen’s idea, but the lie weighs on him. He didn’t want to say anything until we got all the official paperwork back declaring Stephen legally Landon’s father.
As soon as we get to Sawyer and Logan’s house, Landon sprints to the front door. Sawyer lets him in to head to his favorite room in the house and then waits for us.
My brothers and sisters along with Stephen, Caitlin, and Brice gather in the living room. Logan, Ember, and Hollyn are refereeing the cousin mini-stick war happening elsewhere.
“Alex has agreed to use the police officers and judges he values most to arrest Celia and Raul and to oversee their trials. He’s confident they’ll take the charges seriously,” Brice says from his spot on a couch next to Maren.
“Great,” I say, “but will Stephen be protected?” If that’s not guaranteed, I won’t go ahead.
That thought slots me a little too close to my mother—putting my happiness over the collective good, but I spent too many years without him.
Landon has a chance to have a real father in every sense of the word.
We don’t have to take her down now if the consequences are completely unpredictable.
“Alex was not comfortable with that,” Brice says.
“He’s a rule follower,” Maren grumbles.
“Stephen will have to testify,” Brice says.
“Will he get immunity?” Caitlin asks. “I’m not a criminal defense attorney, but I know enough to tell you there are serious risks if he doesn’t.”
“Alex says he’d be okay with that, assuming what Stephen has will ensure a conviction.”
“If everything I know is deemed admissible,” Stephen says, “then there’s no way she gets off without some form of punishment.”
Stephen’s hand slides along my thigh in comfort. “What do you think?” I ask Stephen.
“There are a lot of people in Bellerive who’ll be grateful to see Raul and Celia behind bars, and like you, I want to be better than I used to be.” He searches my expression for a beat, and relief runs through me at how steady he is, how sure he seems. “I’ll testify.”
“They’ll be arrested on the same day at the same time. We’ve heard Raul will be back on the island in two weeks. That’ll be when it happens,” Brice says.
“I can’t believe he’s dumb enough to return to the island,” Sawyer says. “He really doesn’t think you’ll do anything with that evidence?”
“Why would she?” Stephen asks. “He gave her everything she wanted, and to someone like him, that would be the end of it.”
“I didn’t care about much when we were married,” I say, “and he probably assumes he’s dealing with the same version of me. He’ll be arrested before he figures out I’m not his accomplice, unwitting or not, anymore.”
“Your divorce should be finalized within the next week,” Caitlin says.
“We’re all in agreement?” I ask, scanning Nathaniel, Sawyer, Maren, and Gage for any signs of dissent. “We’re taking Mom down too?”
“She lost all of us a long time ago,” Nathaniel says. “I won’t lose any sleep.”
My other siblings nod or murmur words of agreement.
“Okay,” I say. “Then I guess we have a plan.” And instead of feeling anxious like I thought I would, a strange sense of calm surfaces. Although this choice is the harder path, it’s also the right one.
Raul is arrested as soon as his plane lands.
I don’t feel the need to be anywhere near the man when it happens.
But we’re all outside the hockey arena to see the police march in to escort my mother to a waiting cruiser.
Arresting her away from the house was strategic to have her isolated from any loyal employees, any documents she could destroy or surface, or even her phone, which is the first thing the police confiscate.
“What’s this all about?” she asks as they read her rights to her, ferrying her toward the car.
“Ava, you need to call my lawyer,” she says when she sees me.
But when she takes in Stephen beside me, her eyes narrow, and then she notices the rest of our family, minus our father, who’s probably in his office, oblivious. “What is this?” she hisses.
“You’ve interfered in enough lives,” Nathaniel says from behind me. “You’re finally going to pay the price.”
“I’ll never serve a day in prison, and if I do, I won’t be the only one.” She shoots a glare at Stephen.
“You were right about marrying into the royal family, Mother,” Maren says.
“Do you know how much pull they have on the island? Even more than a Tucker. Oh, wait. Wasn’t that why you wanted to join the Summerset family?
The connections? Now we’re all just one big happy family, looking after each other. ”
“Maybe you could control or manipulate us separately,” I say, “but when we all stand together, we’re unstoppable. You will go to jail, and all of us will be better off for not having you in our lives.”
“Better off,” she scoffs. “None of you has ever known what was good for you. Never.”
One of the police officers opens the rear of the cruiser, and they partially shove our mother into the back. The sadness I thought I might feel doesn’t rise to the surface, and instead, it’s just relief that sweeps over me.
“Alex has his list of uncorrupted cops, lawyers, and judges ready to act,” Brice says. “He’ll make sure both cases stay on the right track.”
Stephen wraps me in his arms and kisses the top of my head. “You did the right thing,” he murmurs.