Chapter 5 - The Sweet Taste of the North Wind
Six months later, the wind blowing off Lake Michigan was cold, but to Claire Whitman, it felt like the cleanest air she had ever breathed.
She stood on the balcony of her Lincoln Park home, holding a cup of hot tea. The trees below were bare, their branches dusted with a light layer of snow, but the sky above was a brilliant, endless blue.
The divorce had been finalized the week before.
Because of the overwhelming evidence of financial fraud and marital waste, the judge had awarded Claire ninety percent of the marital assets, including the Lincoln Park house and the entire remaining balance of the Aegis Holdings account.
Evan had pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and embezzlement charges to avoid a maximum sentence. He had been sentenced to forty-eight months in a federal penitentiary in Minnesota.
His father, Ron, had been forced into retirement, his reputation shattered, his family’s mansion in Lake Forest sold at a loss to pay back the embezzled escrow funds.
Diane Whitman no longer attended charity galas or sat on hospital boards. She lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment in a modest suburb, her pearls sold to pay for her son’s legal fees.
Claire’s phone buzzed on the railing.
It was a text from Natalie.
“Are we still on for dinner tonight? I booked a table at that new French place downtown. I promise... no red-striped awnings.”
Claire smiled, a real, genuine smile that reached her eyes.
“I’ll be there,” she replied.
She closed her phone and looked out at the lake.
She had spent years believing she was the weak one, the dramatic one, the woman who needed a man to carry her through the world. But standing in the cold wind, she realized the truth.
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She was not weak. She was the storm.
And she had finally cleared her own sky.
