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She walked over and stood behind her desk, surveying the openness in front of her. She could still remember that very first day clearly. Holly had been so young back then, having just gotten her Realtor license. She was ready to take the world by storm, with her husband right by her side. The brokerage firm had been his father's originally, and the two of them had been able to take it over and hit the ground running.
Back then, they had been a power couple. They'd thought they were untouchable and mingled with the cream of the crop and be rich forever. Holly had been head over heels in love with Will, awed by his skill in the realtor business and his drive to always push things to the next level. But it got to the point that neither of them had ever been content with what they had, more so Will than Holly. He'd always wanted more, regardless of the price they had to pay, and of course, Holly had always followed suit, blinded by love.
Maybe the gossip in the hall had been right, Holly thought to herself. If she hadn't been so caught up in taking the world by storm, she might've noticed the writing on the walls sooner. Maybe if she had spent more time with her family, she wouldn't have missed all the obvious clues that something wasn't right.
It was too late for any of that now, though. Everything was said and done with. Will's illicit dealings had cost the both of them their brokerage and realty licenses, and Holly doubted she would ever be able to get hers back even though she'd had nothing to do with any of it. Maybe if she packed everything up and moved to Alaska or something, she might be able to start fresh. She doubted it, though.
She was only forty-six with still so much life in her. But the idea of packing up and starting from scratch somewhere brand new wasn't that appealing. And she had spent her entire life living in sunny Florida. Freezing her butt off in Alaska was not a pleasant prospect at all.
She had to figure out something, though. She couldn't sit around here and do nothing. Sure, she had enough money put away that she didn'tneedto work, but not working wasn't an option for her. She was liable to go crazy if she didn't have something to occupy her time. She had to keep busy and work at something that she could look back at and be proud of. Holly enjoyed working hard, and she had instilled that work ethic in each of her children.
She had to figure out how she could accomplish that now that being a Realtor wasn't in her future anymore. Going back to school at her age didn't seem all that interesting, though it wasn't completely out of the question. But if she did that, what would she study? What other field could she apply her skills and drive toward?
Law school was tempting, but by the time she finished, she would be past her prime, and she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with the stress and long hours it would take to establish herself in that field. Plus, there was a good chance all of this would follow her and ruin any chances she had of making a name for herself as a lawyer.
A knock on the door frame leading into her office jarred her out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times before reality came back, then she looked over to see Sandra, the woman who ran the office's mailroom, standing there. She smiled at Holly, a sad one, but at least she didn't have the same look of contempt in her eyes the others tended to have.
"Just had an envelope dropped off for you," Sandra said, quickly crossing the length of the room to hand Holly the manila envelope. There was no stamp or return address, so clearly, it hadn't been sent through the mail.
But Holly knew that scrawl on the front of the envelope. Staring at it made a lump form in the back of her throat.
"T--thank you," Holly managed to stammer out. She forced a smile and tried not to show how nervous she was. If Sandra was the only person left in the office who didn't hate her, then Holly didn't want to give her any reason to change that opinion.
Sandra smiled back and then slipped out of the office without another word, leaving Holly alone in the quiet, empty room once more.
Her hands shook as she opened the envelope, pulling out the sheets of paper stuffed inside. Just as expected, the paper on the top was a letter from her lawyer. The law firm's dramatic heading took up the top few inches of the paper. Holly scanned the letter faster than she thought possible, her heart pounding the entire time, threatening to break through her rib cage.
The more she read, the closer she felt to a heart attack. She had hoped the letter might put some of her fears at ease. But instead, it did the exact opposite. It only served to confirm her worst nightmares.
Will's antics had cost the both of them their brokerage and real estate licenses. But now, not only was he under criminal investigation but so was she. The evidence compiled against her ex-husband was daunting, and though she'd had no knowledge of it, she was implicated in a lot by being associated with him.
Both of them were looking at jail time if her lawyer couldn't pull off some kind of miracle.
Holly dropped the papers onto her desk and stared at them for a long while, trying to comprehend everything she had just read—her mind in a whirl.
She'd already had enough on her plate! Now she had one more headache to deal with on top of everything else. She placed one hand over her mouth as a gasp escaped, and then she felt a tear roll down her cheek.
Her tough outer shell threatened to shatter, and she didn't know how much more of this she could take.
