Chapter 9 - Rebuilding from the Ashes
A month after the trial concluded, the Vance Manor felt entirely different. The towering iron gates that had once felt like the bars of a prison were now wide open, letting in the warm summer breeze.
Richard had completely remodeled the house. Every piece of furniture Evelyn had chosen, every painting she had hung, was stripped away and replaced with warm, bright colors and my mother’s original artwork, which had been recovered from the storage units where Evelyn had hidden them.
The grand foyer, once the site of my daily torment, was now filled with towering green plants and a beautiful grand piano. The marble floors no longer smelled of harsh chemicals and tears, but of fresh lavender and beeswax.
I sat at the kitchen island, looking through college acceptance letters. With the help of private tutors over the last few months, I had passed all my high school equivalency exams with honors. I held an acceptance letter from Stanford University in my hands, my heart fluttering with excitement.
Richard walked into the kitchen, wearing a casual polo shirt instead of his usual intimidating business suits. He had stepped down as the active CEO of his corporation, taking a chairman position that allowed him to work from home and spend every single day with me.
"Is that the one?" he asked, a proud smile warming his face as he poured two glasses of fresh orange juice.
"Yes," I smiled, holding up the letter. "Stanford. I’m going to study psychology and social law. I want to run the foundation myself one day, Dad. I want to make sure no other girl has to go through what I did."
Richard walked over, pulling me into a tight, protective embrace. "Your mother would be so incredibly proud of you, Maya. You took the darkest thing imaginable and turned it into a light for the rest of the world."
May you like
He looked out the window toward the expansive gardens, where a group of construction workers were currently building a beautiful memorial greenhouse dedicated to my mother. "We lost three years, sweetheart. And I will spend the rest of my life making up for every single second I missed."
"You already have, Dad," I said softly, burying my face in his chest. "You came home. That's all that matters."
