Chapter 7
745 Words
Chapter 7
Diana drove for thirty minutes into the glare of the setting sun. She was shaking inside, her stomach queasy from the confrontation with Andy, and the embarrassment of being called out in public like that. She could feel the anxiety building inside her chest knowing that right now she was the talk of the town. And what Andy had said about her being a drug dealing w***e was slanderous, but building a case and going after him, would take resources that she didn’t have.
She’d been frightened and stood frozen like a wet-behind-the-ears ninny, because she’d been ill-prepared for a confrontation. And if she’d learned one thing, say nothing that can be used against you. Oh, she knew the law, but she guessed he did, too. In this part of the county, he and his dad owned the law. Burning their home down, that they’d legally rented, along with their belongings, was something out of the wild west. And it amazed Diana how individual counties still looked the other way when vigilantes with money flexed their muscles. It was about two different classes, the rich and the poor, and how different the law could be. What Andy and Todd had done to her that night, showing up like a version of the clan, had been the driving force that helped her succeed and become a lawyer. But then, so was that young, wealthy kid who’d stolen a car and killed her adoptive parents and walked away scot-free. She’d realized that, with the burning hatred she couldn’t let go of, it was a way for her to regain some of the power that had been stripped from her. Yes, she’d left calmly, but Andy would soon learn that she wasn’t someone he could walk all over. The Friessen’s may have owned the town of North Lakewood, but they didn’t own everything, and she knew there had to be someplace she could go to investigate, to stay; a place where he had no control. And while she was here, maybe she’d set up a law practice. Right under his nose. And there wouldn’t be anything he could do about it. She refused to hide. It was past time she faced the childhood that still haunted her. To clear her name. To show the town the thugs Andy and Todd Friessen were. She would prove herself to the people of North Lakewood, and she’d earn respect from those who had looked down on her as if she were nothing. She would show them she wasn’t her mother. And she would do it for a little girl, Louisa, who didn’t deserve the hand she’d been dealt.
And Andy... she couldn’t shake that childhood vision when he’d given her that brand new bike. Deep down she wanted him to look at her with kindness and for him to admit he was wrong for tarring her with the same brush as her mother. She wasn’t Faye, and he was wrong for what he had done to her, to Louisa. She had gone to him for help, and he’d lied to her. He could have helped them; he knew what Faye was doing, but instead he’d shown up and been the jury and judge, branding his verdict onto her with such despicable hatred. She had worshipped him, loved him, trusted him. And he had stomped on her as if she were nothing but an insect, casting them out in the dark. She wanted his apology for not helping Louisa and her when she asked for help. She wanted answers of what Faye had done to Todd. For him to admit that she wasn’t Faye. And then she’d go after justice for Louisa, and find a way to put Andy and Todd behind bars.
The wealthy who continued to buy their freedom and their version of justice had been the driving force to succeed in her mind. And Andy—she didn’t know if she’d have peace until Andy admitted he was wrong, until she had justice, and then finally she’d be free of the past. But the haunting ache that had never really left after all these years of having everything she’d ever emotionally known, her home, her mother, her sister, ripped away from her in one night in the most heinous, despicable way. She needed to come back to bury the ghosts of her past. She would leave when she set things right, and only then would she have the peace to move on.
- Writer
