6. The Strongest Bond
Six months later, the crisp, biting chill of winter had descended upon Kansas City.
The grand, ivory and gold ballroom of the St. Regis was nothing but a spectacular, cautionary tale whispered among the city’s social elite. The “Wedding of the Year” had become the scandal of the decade.
The fallout had been swift, brutal, and entirely legal.
Arthur Sterling’s forensic audit was bulletproof. Within a week of the disastrous reception, Vanessa and Marlene were formally indicted by federal prosecutors on multiple counts of wire fraud, grand larceny, and identity theft.
Their assets were immediately frozen and seized. They were evicted from their upscale, rented townhouse. Unable to afford bail or a high-priced defense attorney, they were currently living in a cramped, un-airconditioned, roach-infested two-bedroom apartment on the wrong side of the city, awaiting their impending criminal trial.
They had been completely, utterly abandoned by the high-society friends they had sacrificed everything, including their own family, to impress. They were social pariahs, trapped in a miserable reality of their own making.
Through the relentless, aggressive work of Caleb’s military legal assistance team and the irrefutable evidence provided by Sterling’s audit, we had successfully recovered every single cent they had stolen from our accounts. The bank recognized the forged signatures, and the hazard pay was restored.
I sat in the quiet, warmly lit nursery of our modest, three-bedroom home. I was gently rocking back and forth in a comfortable wooden glider.
