5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 126

February

The first week of February was rather uneventful until one afternoon when Preston and the other guys except for Chase came home. I had just woken up from nap where I had dreamed that the guys were trying to tell me something but I kept walking away without knowing why. Judging from the solemn looks on their faces, there was bad news for me. I sat in the living room with one hand on my stomach as if to protect the baby from whatever they were about to tell me. Preston sat on my right and picked up my hand in his. "My dear, the DA from California called. A lot of things came to light and instead of taking this to trial, your former mother in law has cut a deal for 50 years in prison." I looked at him startled, "Fifty years in prison? Isn't that excessive for forgery and stalking?"

Jake answered my question, "It's a whole lot more than that. She was also blackmailing people and embezzling money from the city." he took a deep breath before continuing, "The autopsy results for Rick were finally located and he had a high level of Xanax in his system." I shook my head, "No! He had finally quit and made sure that the doctor didn't prescribe it anymore and cancelled it at the pharmacy. I was right there when he did it." Preston's hand squeezed mine as I started to cry. Wyatt spoke next, "Darling, I'm so sorry to tell you this but his mom had bought some off the street and given it to him. She confessed to giving it to him after getting Rick to take out a big life insurance policy. He was supposed to make her the beneficiary for it but he had named you and Lexine instead. She thought that he would just fall asleep and not wake up but somehow he made it out of bed and fell down the stairs which snapped his neck." I sat there crying, letting the information seep into my brain and try to make sense of it. It was too much to absorb at once.

Napkins were handed to me along with soothing touches and they gave me time to adjust. Finally, I started asking questions and they answered them for me. I still couldn't believe that she had such a big hand in Rick's death. What kind of monster kills their own kid for money? I knew that it did happen and the papers were full of these kind of stories but they were always strangers. This happened to me. I shuddered to think of what would have happened if she had gotten custody of Lexine. Would she have had an accident too? Apparently the PI was supposed to see if I had a regular schedule so that an accident for me could be arranged. Since I didn't after meeting the guys plus I was never alone, the only other way to custody of her granddaughter was to make me look bad and go to court. Murdoch came clean after the police picked him up for stalking and trespassing. He of course lost his license and cut a deal to lessen his punishment.

The life insurance policy that Rick had purchased had been for a million dollars. Half to go to me and half to go to Lexine. My half, of course had already been spent by Sharon but Lexine's half was still untouched. It was decided that it would go into a trust fund for her until she was twenty one but would pay for her college tuition and books should she choose to go after high school. At the rate she was learning, I had a sneaking suspicion that she might be recruited for the Academy. I also wanted Preston to be the trustee on her account. "I am so sorry that I was not able to get your money back my dear. She had already spent it all and even selling everything she had owned would only cover the embezzlement from the city and they have already did that." Preston said quietly to me. I told him that it didn't matter because thanks to them, I now had plenty of money that I was earning on my own.   Business had really taken off for me and I was proud of myself. "I guess that in the end Rick was trying to change and do things right by making sure that me and our daughter were taken care of in case anything happened."

Wyatt spoke up, "I know that he didn't treat you as well as he could have and I'm sorry about that. I think that he might have been sorry too and that's why he changed the beneficiary to his policy even though he had promised it to his mother. Rick obviously had issues of his own and it apparent that his mother being the way that she was had a lot to do with it. She is a very cold woman." I nodded at his words. He had a good point, even I had thought that his mom was the reason he wasn't affectionate. "So she's got fifty years in prison? She'll probably be there until she dies." I remarked. Preston nodded, "There is no chance of her getting out early. She won't be offered parole for good behavior."