Façade

Chapter 34

To summer in Southampton is a rarity for most people. The kind of luxury of which ordinary people can only dream. The kind of luxury of which the likes of you and I will probably never know. The white sands of the beaches, and the beautiful sunsets were mostly only enjoyed by the rich and famous of New York. Until, one summer, a modest house was bought by an average man, and his daughter, and he was framed for a crime he didn't commit, and his daughter came back to inflict the same kind of pain and torture which had been inflicted on her. The one thing she couldn't plan on, was her own heart.

The headline of every newspaper that week read 'DAVID CLARKE DECLARED INNOCENT BY SUPREME COURT JUSTICE'. And for the first time in years. Emily felt true peace, not the kind you feel when a summer storm is dying down, and you're safe in bed, but the kind of peace you'd expect to have been mastered only by masters of martial arts who'd been honing the skill for years. She was truly happy, with her husband and her friends, and for once, with total honesty, her life. It all seemed perfect. To have worked out rather beautifully.

Aiden had been put into prison too, and Victoria was moved to the maximum security United States penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas. Even Nolan had found his bliss, living on a tech-free farm in Missouri with Maria. The two had been going from strength to strength in their relationship and were happier than anyone had ever seen either of them. He had come a long way from the man with the bad hair, no friends, and all the money and tech skills in the world.

It seemed like the perfect time for Emily and Daniel to finally come clean to the world about Emily's greatest secret, and end the dark period of her life, in which she'd done unspeakable things to people she loved, for the one person she loved most in this life; her father. Daniel had come to accept this, but wasn't too sure the rest of the world would share his forgiving nature.

The sun was bright as they set foot onto the porch, which had been encircled by reporters taking pictures. They were, for the first time in Emily's memory, totally silent, save for the clicks of the cameras. She looked to the ground, at the tiny grains of sand that littered the porch, and crunched underneath her shoes as she stood next to her husband in front of the mob of importunate bursts of light from the cameras. Emily took a deep breath in, and began. "As you'll all be aware of by now, David Clarke was granted judicial pardon. While for my husband's family, this was a great defeat learning of their past indiscretions, for mine, it was a huge relief. An enormous weight off my shoulders. The reason for this being not that I'm related to the judge, or any of the defence attorneys, but that David Clarke was, I mean is, my father. My name is legally Emily Grayson, but I was born Amanda Clarke." The crowd of reporters erupted into an excited collective noise of questions.

As they sat by the pool, recalling their various questionable exploits since Emily's return to the Hamptons, Nolan and Emily shared a toast "To David. It's been a long, lonely road back to grace, but we did it!" Emily smiled, raised her glass, and replied "To dad."