Chapter 3
Winter arrived with bitter winds,
blanketing Chicago in thick white snow,
and freezing the river solid.
Inside the state penitentiary,
Vanessa sat in a cold visiting room,
waiting for the lawyer she had begged to come.
Her appeals had been exhausted,
and her sentence was long,
but her mind was still working.
She had discovered a piece of information,
from a bitter ex-employee of Blackwood,
who had ended up in the same facility.
It was an old secret,
dating back to Grant's father,
concerning a massive tract of land,
that the foundation had recently purchased.
Vanessa smiled to herself,
thinking this was her golden ticket,
a way to negotiate better conditions,
or perhaps a reduced sentence.
She told the lawyer to contact Grant,
demanding a private meeting,
promising information that could ruin them.
When Grant received the message,
he initially wanted to ignore it,
refusing to negotiate with a prisoner.
But Claire was pragmatic,
understanding that Vanessa was desperate,
and desperate people could be dangerous.
Claire decided to go herself,
leaving Grant at home with Elliot,
and taking Miles as her only escort.
The prison smelled of bleach and despair,
a stark contrast to the life Claire now knew,
but she walked with her head high.
She sat across from Vanessa,
separated by a thick pane of reinforced glass,
picking up the heavy black phone.
Vanessa looked older,
her arrogance replaced by a hollow bitterness,
but her eyes still held malice.
She demanded money and legal support,
in exchange for the documents she had hidden,
before she was originally arrested.
Claire listened patiently,
letting Vanessa spin her web of threats,
until the silence stretched long.
Then,
Claire calmly informed her sister,
that they already knew about the land.
They had audited the entire company,
clearing out the old corruption,
and paying the back taxes years ago.
Vanessa's leverage was completely worthless,
a ghost of a scandal that no longer existed.
Claire stood up,
placing the phone back on the hook,
without saying another word.
She walked away,
May you like
leaving Vanessa shouting behind the glass,
finally closing the door on her past.
