Chapter 10 - SEVERANCE
A week later, Elena was discharged from the hospital. She didn't return to the sprawling, cold mansion in Westchester. The FBI had seized the property anyway. Instead, Vance escorted her to a black suburban that would take her to a secure processing facility, and eventually, to her new life.
She had to sign the severance papers. Not just for a divorce, but for her identity. Elena Hartford was dead. The woman who had cowered in designer kitchens and apologized for breathing too loudly no longer existed.
As she sat in the back of the SUV, holding her baby close, Vance handed her a manila envelope. "Your new driver's license. Your new Social Security number. A new birth certificate for the little one. You'll have federal protection, financial support, and a house in a quiet town where no one will ever look twice at you."
Elena opened the envelope. She traced her thumb over the newly printed plastic ID. A new name. A blank slate.
May you like
"What did you name her?" Vance asked, looking at the baby in the car seat.
Elena smiled, a genuine, radiant expression that reached her eyes. "Hope."
