Chapter 16 - The View from the Window
Inside the barred window of the transport van, Daniel Vance sat shackled at his wrists and ankles, wearing a faded orange jumpsuit.
Through the tinted glass, he caught a glimpse of the massive digital billboard overhead. Displayed across the glowing screen was a massive photo of Clara, glowing with success, accompanied by the headline: Clara Montgomery Reclaims Family Legacy, Opens Historic Shelter.
Daniel stared at the image, his heart twisting into a knot of bitter, unbearable jealousy and regret. He remembered the quiet, bruised girl who used to tremble whenever he walked into the kitchen—the girl he thought he had completely crushed under his thumb.
Now, she was a celebrated public figure, living in a mansion he could no longer enter, managing a foundation worth millions, surrounded by people who respected her.
Beside him in the van sat another inmate, who glanced out the window at the billboard and let out a low whistle.
“Man, look at her,” the inmate remarked idly. “That woman looks totally untouchable.”
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, hot, bitter tears leaking down his hollow cheeks as the van accelerated onto the highway, carrying him away to serve his twenty-five-year sentence in a maximum-security cell.
He had spent six years trying to make her feel like nothing. In the end, he was the one left with absolute zero.
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Back at the foundation, Clara stepped into her bright new corner office, sitting down behind a pristine glass desk overlooking the city skyline.
👉 She opened her desktop email and clicked on a message sent directly from the State Department of Corrections.
