Natural Selection

The clincher came when Carolyn told Abby that all of this had happened before with the previous PA, Donna Griggs. She too was the object of their paternity gambit ruse. What Abby didn't realize was that it was just a cruel game to the guys. Once Donna became pregnant and it was proven not to be her husband's, they left her high and dry. She never collected a cent and her husband divorced her as well. It was just her word against theirs and they all ponied up high priced lawyers to prevent DNA samples from being taken. She moved out of state in shame penniless and is still suffering from the embarrassment and gave the baby up for adoption. Carolyn did her best to console Abby as her coworker and friend, but, in the end, Abby was escorted from the building carrying all of her personal effects.

Vance promoted Carolyn to be his PA coupled with a large pay increase. With Camille's and Eric's permission, he honored her with a very special gift, an ashtray and the meaning that went with it. Until she retired, she was fiercely loyal to her boss and protected him like a mama bear defending her cub. She would do absolutely anything for him, though they never were anything other than consummate professionals in their work relationship. There was, after all, that pesky non-fraternization clause still in force, he joked.

At the time of his separation from Abby, Vance had told his parents that he and Abby were divorcing and why, but because of everything else that was going on at the time, waited until after the divorce to bring them in on his Davenport connection. He invited them up to New York where he formally introduced them to Camille and Eric as his half siblings. To say they were shocked would be an understatement. They apologized to him for not informing him of his adoption, but said that they never wanted him to feel abandoned by his birth parents. Once they were told the entire story by Camille, who told it best, they asked Vance if he had plans to seek out his biological mother Gabriela Ruiz. That thought had not occurred to him until then. He googled her, discovering that she was still alive and well and had indeed inherited her family fortune, but Vance was on the fence about contacting her. No one, but no one could ever take the place of the parents who raised him.

Damon Davenport and former vice presidents Steve Crenshaw, Frank Sutton, Bernard Ledbetter, Craig Barstow, and Philip Harmon were all held until trial. Steve had been charged with grand larceny in the first degree for embezzlement theft. Vance testified against Steve about his current knowledge of being framed for the crime. Steve, in turn fingered Damon as the lead co-conspirator for his desire to oust Vance at any cost. For the grand larceny charges, Damon and Steve both received sentences of six years and were ordered to pay fines of fifty-thousand dollars each. Of course all of the embezzled money had been recovered from Vance's account long before the trial.

After being charged with grand larceny, Steve had wanted no part whatsoever in the kidnapping or attempted murder schemes, so he was the only one of the group not charged with those two crimes.

Damon Davenport, Frank Sutton, Bernard Ledbetter, Craig Barstow, and Philip Harmon were all convicted of Felony first degree kidnapping of both Vance and Carolyn as well as forcible rape. For his part as lead conspirator, Damon was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The other four received sentences of 40 years imprisonment with the possibility of parole after a minimum of fifteen years. After the kidnapping convictions, the DA returned the camera containing the evidence to Vance as a courtesy. Archived copies of the video recording had been made and inserted into the files of each of the convicted men. Vance made a copy of the video of his and Carolyn's intimacy and afterwards destroyed the camera and memory chip. Although he watched it from time to time with interest and kept it in a very secure place, he never mentioned having it to Carolyn.

The impact of the revelations Carolyn had imparted to Abby had overwhelmed her emotions to the extent that she had seriously contemplated suicide. She stopped eating and neglected herself, becoming so dehydrated that she unfortunately miscarried. When she finally confessed her dark thoughts to her parents, they quickly moved her back to Columbus where she underwent intense therapy and counseling sessions to refocus her life on her future and leave the past behind her. A full year later, she timidly emerged and took a job as a staff accountant and after fulfilling the required time requirements, planned to sit for her CPA exam. The therapist guided her through her dark times and helped Abby recognize what she had allowed herself to become. It would be quite some time before she would consider dating again.

In the aftermath of it all, Vance had no one special in his life for the time being. He was growing ever closer to Camille and Eric and became a much beloved uncle to their children. He felt as though he needed time to compartmentalize and process what all had transpired before moving on with his life.

Since his coerced experience with Carolyn, Vance's eyes had been opened to new options. He had never considered having a relationship outside of his race before. If Gabriele Ruiz had been opposed to interracial relationships, then he would never have even been born. He realized that his inhibition toward interracial relationships wasn't born of integrity and character, but of prejudgment and prejudice. Perhaps his biological father had more yet to teach him. He aspired to become that elusive heart of gold.

Looking back, on one hand, Vance was amazed at the fantastic opportunities that the blonde-headed bitch had brought into his life those many years ago with her caustic invectives. On the other hand, he wondered what his life may have been like had she never darkened his door. Would he have been just as content without all the trappings of success? While exorcizing his demons, he worked closely with Stan for a full year injecting his ideas and strategies into the operations of the company improving the bottom line even more. He wondered what his future love life would look like. Although he had an exceptionally fulfilling career, as well as a great and loving extended family situation, there was an emptiness in his soul, once occupied by a loving wife. Could he ever have that again? The song that he now constantly played on his MP3 player was by the a cappella group Pentatonix singing their version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'.