Chapter 9 - The Meeting In Prison
Two weeks after the wedding, I received a formal visitation request from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Richard Carter had used his single weekly legal call to beg his lawyer to arrange an in-person meeting with me. At first, I considered ignoring it. But then I realized that walking into that room was the final rite of passage I needed to permanently close that chapter of my life.
The visitation room smelled of industrial floor wax, stale coffee, and despair. I sat behind the reinforced glass partition wearing an elegant navy tailored suit, my hair pinned up neatly, a simple platinum watch on my wrist.
When the heavy steel door opened, Richard Carter shuffled in.
I barely recognized him.
The proud, impeccably groomed billionaire who had sneered at me from the fountain was gone. In his place was a frail, hunched man in a faded orange jumpsuit. His silver hair was unwashed and uncombed; his face was gaunt, his skin gray under the harsh fluorescent lights. His hands trembled as he picked up the telephone receiver on his side of the glass.
I picked up mine.
""Emily..."" his voice rasped through the speaker, weak and trembling. ""You... you actually came.""
""I have ten minutes, Richard,"" I said, keeping my tone perfectly even. ""Say what you wanted to say.""
A tear tracked down his weathered cheek. ""Emily, you have to help me. The prosecutors... they're talking about twenty years. Twenty years! I'm sixty-two years old, Emily! I'll die in here! You have Marcus Vance. You have connections in Washington. You can talk to the US Attorney! Tell them it was a corporate misunderstanding! Tell them you'll pay the restitution!""
""It wasn't a misunderstanding, Richard,"" I answered quietly. ""You stole from investors, you forged government documents, and you stole from me. You broke federal law for a decade to finance an illusion of grandeur.""
""I did it for the family!"" he cried out, his voice cracking against the glass. ""I built an empire so you and Vanessa could have the best of everything! Everything I did, I did to keep the Carter name at the top!""
""No,"" I replied, looking directly into his desperate eyes. ""You did it for your own ego. You never cared about family. If you cared about family, you wouldn't have treated me like a servant while parading Vanessa around like a prize pony. You wouldn't have stolen my life's work. And you wouldn't have shoved your own daughter into a fountain just to get a cheap laugh from a room full of strangers.""
Richard lowered his head, his shoulders shaking as quiet sobs racked his frame. ""I made a mistake, Emily. God forgive me, I made a terrible mistake. I was arrogant. I didn't see what you were worth. Please... I'm your father.""
""You were a father in biology only,"" I said softly, feeling the final lingering knot of childhood pain dissolve into thin air. ""A real father protects his daughter. He doesn't humiliate her to feel powerful. I don't hate you, Richard. Hatred requires emotional investment, and I have none left to give you. I hope you find peace in prison. But Carter Industries is gone. Your status is gone. And your daughter... left you standing by that fountain.""
May you like
I hung up the telephone receiver.
Richard hammered his trembling fists against the glass, shouting my name through the thick pane, but his voice was completely muffled. I stood up, buttoned my navy jacket, and walked out of the room without looking back once.
