Total Destruction

"To my shame, both of us conspired against you, setting everything in motion. We opened the new bank account in your name and made sure you were ruined one step at a time. We both knew you loved and trusted without question, and by the time the dust had settled, Roger figured with you in jail, his money, our savings and the money we stole, we could set up in a different country, and if they ever figured it out, we'd be beyond reach." Kelly explained, shaking her head in disbelief at her own words.

"And in the meantime," I said, trying to hide the anger in my voice. "Neither of you cared that you systematically destroyed me in the process."

She nodded sadly. "Yes, at first, I didn't want to, but Roger was incessant. He broke me down a piece at a time until I was willing if hesitant. For the plan to succeed, you needed to be so broken that you wouldn't question anything."

"You almost succeeded," I said, interrupting. "If it wasn't for Detective Roundlight and Myra, you might very well have gotten away with it."

We said nothing for a moment, then Kelly quietly asked. "Can I see them?"

I knew what she meant and slowly put my arms on the table, palms up.

Kelly gasped, and tears started to flow as she looked at my scars. She began to reach out then pulled her hands back. I sat there impassively, on the outside. However, internally I was fighting a range of emotions, from rage to shame, quickly flashing through my mind. What upset me somewhat was that there was even a little love there even after everything this woman put me through. But it galled me to admit it. I guess I wasn't successful at masking the emotions, as Kelly looked up at me and stiffened.

"I'm sorry Bart, I am so, so sorry. I am ashamed that I drove you to try and take your own life. I... I..." she paused. "I'm going to accept the twenty years without appeal. I deserve this after what I did to you."

I nodded, glad that she would do time without question. She looked back up at me.

"Bart?" I looked at Kelly. "So that you know, you were never a bad lover. You are amazing compared to Roger, he thought he was amazing, but he was next to useless in bed. It was all about him, and he never took time to pleasure me as you did. I have no excuse for what I did to you that last morning. I was wrong."

We said nothing for a minute.

"So you and Myra?" she asked questioningly.

"Yeah..." I said a little hesitantly.

She gave a wan little smile.

"Good, she's loved you for years, you know." My now ex-wife said matter of factly.

"So I have learnt recently," I replied.

I was surprised at both the passion and the pain in her voice in her following statement. "Let her love you Bart, let her heal the hurt I caused you." Big fat tears were falling from her eyes, but she continued to look at me. "I know I have no right to advise you on anything. But that woman loves you, and unlike me, she would never betray you. She's wanted you for years and never once made a move to try and seduce you. I failed the very first time I was tested. She is everything that I'm not," my now ex-wife told me sadly.

"Kelly, I..." I was a little unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry," she told me, wiping tears from her face with her sleeve. "I'll be fine. I've agreed to your terms. I was surprised you were so generous to look after my money while in prison. You're a better man than I ever imagined."

I sighed, "Kelly, I loved you once, more than I think you ever knew. If you had talked to me about your feelings, perhaps we would have avoided everything. But I'm trying hard to get over everything you did to me. But to let you know, I'm holding a lot of anger even now. I want to scream at you. I want to choke the life from you for what you said to me. But I can't, Kelly. I was the one who decided to try and take my own life. I am the one that has to live with that."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

"Bart," Kelly said as we looked at each other again. "I am so very sorry for what I did to you, you deserve more from me, and I share just as much blame for pushing you, even more than you if we are honest with each other. I will forever be ashamed. I got to see the letter you wrote, and you were right that I will burn for what I did. But I do thank God that you're alive."

I ground my teeth a minute. The feelings playing inside my mind were still intense. How could Kelly say those things now? How could she accept the responsibility and try to rob me of the anger and pain I was holding onto. It wasn't fair, so I changed the topic.

"I proposed to look after your money out of respect for our years together. You will have enough to start again when you get out if you want." I said, trying to mask my emotions and still failing.

Kelly saw through my thinly veiled attempt to hide, but she accepted the topic change laughing bitterly, "I'll likely be in my sixties, then hopefully it will be enough to retire."

"Sixty isn't that old," I said, "Keep yourself together on the inside, and you'll be going strong into your eighties."

We spoke for a few more minutes about how she would like to communicate about her funds. It relaxed us both a little. But I sensed she wanted to bring up the next topic.

"Have you spoken with Grace?" she asked, hesitating slightly.

I shook my head, "Grace, pretty much told me where to go, that I was dead to her and took the lies that you and your lover fed her as gospel. It was that conversation that broke me."

I looked at Kelly, and she flinched at the look of pain and sorrow in my eyes.

"Kelly, she never asked if I was innocent, she never gave me the benefit of the doubt, she just threw me out without a second glance. It was right after that call that I... I..." I stopped and stood, suddenly turning around so Kelly wouldn't see me cry. While I cried, if I had turned to look, I would have seen that Kelly was also sobbing. She knew what I couldn't say.

With my back to Kelly, I continued. "When I was in the hospital, Myra tried to contact her, but nothing..." Then, as Kelly did earlier, I wiped my face on my sleeve and turned, sitting back down as Kelly was trying to wipe the tears off her face.

"I'm sorry Bart," Kelly winced. "A lot of that was what Roger and I orchestrated. To my eternal disgrace, it was planned that we would have Grace turn against you."

I nodded. Kelly saw the flash of anger in my eyes as she admitted her actions and hung her head in disgrace. I was about to blast her for destroying my relationship with my daughter, but she knew she had. Kelly had just freely admitted it.

"If it makes you feel any better," Kelly said sorrowfully. "Grace has thrown me out of her life, too. I have not been told off that much since I was a child, but I know I deserved that and more. Bart," Kelly said suddenly, losing the sorrow in her voice, something more insistent replacing it. "Our little girl needs you. She's scared and lashing out at everyone. Right now, she and John are fighting over everything and anything, and you know that's not them."

More quietly, Kelly said, "I'm worried about her, this is my fault, but I can't fix it. I know she feels guilty about how she treated you, but that you're not talking to her after everything makes it worse."

Kelly hesitated for a moment.

"Bart, I know I have no right to request anything of you." Kelly paused, looking at me again even as she continued wringing her hands. "But could you find it in yourself to forgive Grace? Our daughter needs at least one of her parents. I know now that even if I was not going to prison for a long time, my guilt at what I have done to you as well as turning Grace against you would have eaten me alive for the next few years, and she would have still hated me in the end," Kelly sniffed. "It's better this way, it's better that you're the one to pick her up.

"If you had died, I don't know what she would have done. Please, Bart, if nothing else, look after our daughter," my now ex-wife pleaded with me.

"Kelly..." I took a breath in and thought of what to say. "What you're asking, it's hard, you hurt me badly, but you were my wife, not my blood. When Grace told me she never wanted anything to do with me again, that I was dead to her not a day after you told me to go die, it hurt more than what you did to me. I want to go back to her, but the pain, Kelly, the pain of what my family did, what our daughter did, I don't know how to get past it."

Kelly nodded, "I understand," she said sadly, knowing that I was trying but that there was a lot for me to get past. She understood the pain of being disowned. She was living it now.

I sighed, looking at my ex-wife. "Look, Kelly, for what it's worth, I'm going to work hard at trying not to hate you. I'm getting professional help, but even with that help, it is taking most of what's inside me not to shout and swear at you. And I'll make no promises about Grace. But I will consider talking to her at some point soon."

She looked broken; throughout the course of this conversation, Kelly looked to have aged years. There wasn't much more to be said. She stood up.

"Bart, I know it's not worth squat to you right now, but I will say it again, I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I have no excuse, and know I can never atone for it. I will serve my time and I while I may never have it, I will hope that one day you can forgive me." Kelly sniffed again, then looked at me wrinkles and age lines now clearly evident on her face. "You may not believe me, but I still and will always love you. I may have lost sight of that for a while, but I still do..."

We stood there awkwardly. Tears again fell from Kelly's eyes as she walked to the door and knocked. Her prison escort opened it. Kelly paused and looked back at me.

"Love Myra, Bart, give her the love that I so foolishly threw away. Live a wonderful life and hold your head high. You have people around you that love you. Never forget that there is always someone who cares enough about you to help you back to your feet, even in your darkest moments. I lost sight of that, but I am proud of you, Bart. You are becoming you again."

"Goodbye, my beautiful man. I'll never forget you," Kelly said regretfully in parting.

And she walked out of the room. I contemplated the conversation. There was no yelling; Kelly accepted responsibility and accepted her prison sentence. As I took my turn to exit the room, I could see a line of small droplets on the tiled floor in the direction that Kelly had walked.

I turned, lamenting what once was for a moment, then turned, walking the other way. I was escorted out of the secure area, away to the public gallery, my mood brightening immediately seeing Myra was standing and waiting for me. Even on such a solemn occasion, my assistant turned girlfriend looked beautiful. Her skirt accented her curvy ass, and her blouse aimed to hide her amazing assets. Yet, her outfit still spoke to her curvaceousness as her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, down her back to just above her waist.

She effortlessly melted into my arms and gave me a soft kiss.

"Did everything go alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "It was surprising. I expected a whole lot of excuses and blame thrown at me. But she took a lot of the responsibility and showed me a surprising amount of remorse."

"How do you feel about that?" Myra queried me.

I thought for a moment, continuing to hold Myra. "Honestly, there is still a lot of anger in me at Roger and her. But unlike Roger, I also feel sorry for her. She knows that she destroyed everything in her life and is now paying the price. Apparently, Grace has also cut Kelly out of her life for what she did."

Myra nodded. She hesitated a moment. "About that..."

She looked at me a moment, "John and Grace are here. While you were in with Kelly, John came up to me and let me know they would be in the café across the street for the next few hours if you want to talk. He knows how upset you are. Apparently, they have been fighting a lot over how Grace treated you, but she's desperate to see you."

I took a deep breath and looked at my lover.

"You think I should talk to her, don't you?" I asked.

Myra nodded, "I do, my love. You have a pain in your soul that I can't fix. Only Grace can. But, if it helps, I'll come with you. I'll be at your side as long as you need. And..."

She smiled at me.

"If you need mumma bear to come out, I'll still claw her eyes out. I love you Bart!" She spoke as if ordaining the world on my behalf.

I leaned in and kissed her, "I love you too Myra."

Her eyes went wide, my first public statement of love for her. We got a few looks off of people, lawyers, judges and criminals passing us, but at that moment, I didn't care. Myra was the only person I could see.

"Let's go then," I said, and we walked hand in hand across the street.

Entering the café, Myra and I immediately spotted my daughter and her fiancé. As we walked up to their table, Grace was split between running for the hills or knocking me over with a hug. I let the latter happen somewhat. I opened my arms, Grace sliding in against me, then moments later, I felt my shirt grow wet as she cried.

"I'm sorry daddy..." she repeated over and over again for a couple of minutes. I looked at Myra, who smiled and John, who didn't know where to look. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I pushed her off me, and we sat down.

We each ordered a drink and something small to eat, and I figured I'd get the ball rolling.

"I just spoke with your mother," I said quietly.

Grace nodded, "I heard, Daddy, I'm sorry, it was just..."

I held up my hand, it was my turn.

"I know Gracie, you're sorry, your mother explained a lot of it, but you need to know what you said to me hurt, it hurt more than I have ever hurt before; at that moment, I felt I had no escape. One of the few people I thought would at least care about me, regardless of the circumstance threw me away without a second thought. However, what hurt most was that you never even asked if I was innocent."

Grace went a deep red colour; her embarrassment painted clearly on her face.

"Dad... I...." She squared her shoulders. "No, I need to say this..." she said to herself more than anyone else. I noticed that John said nothing but squeezed her hand in encouragement.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I should have given you time to respond, I should have let you explain, but I didn't. I can't lay the blame for my actions at Roger or mum's feet, but they told me how much you had screwed up, how you were going to jail, how you were having an affair," she glanced a Myra. "Mum, with Roger's assistance, kept telling me how deceitful you had been. They were compelling. By the time you called, I was so worked up that I said a lot of things that I regret."

John nodded. I assumed that this had been a big part of their fights.

"Dad, when Myra left the messages about you in the hospital, I thought it was all a ploy. I mean, mum and Roger were still trash-talking you, and Myra was the one you were in cahoots with." Grace kept glancing at Myra, then at me. "They said that you were just after attention since Myra was a part of your scheme. But is it true dad, did you try to..."

She couldn't say the last part. None of us could.

I nodded and swallowed, lifting my wrists to show her my scars.

"I'm sorry, Gracie, yes, I was at a very low place, and I didn't see a way out. I got quite drunk at my lowest point, and did something that I regret." I said slowly, swallowing, it was still hard to say, but I knew I had to. I had to show my daughter what she had driven me to do.

At my admission, Grace broke down again, sobbing into her hands. Myra melted into my side as both her and my emotions threatened to break as well.

No one said anything for a few moments. John looked at us.

"I do not mean to brush over the seriousness but I'd like to give Grace a break and compose herself." John looked at us and smiled. "Can I assume that something good came out of everything, though?" he said, gesturing to Myra and I snuggling, Grace lifted her head, and after a moment, her eyes went wide.

"Dad, you and Myra?" she asked questioningly.

"Yeah," I nodded, then felt I had to explain. "But it wasn't an affair like your mother told you. I never cheated on your mother. When I woke up in the hospital, Myra refused to leave me. You don't know this, but Myra also bought into what Roger and your mother were doing for a time. We made up, and I found out how much this woman loves me." Myra blushed but encircled her arms around my waist, then reached up, giving me a peck on the lips.

John smiled, and Grace looked at us wide-eyed then appeared to find herself.

"Thank you," she addressed Myra, "Thank you for picking up my dad and being there for him when I had a serious case of the stupids."

Myra laughed, and it broke the tensions somewhat. Then, for the next couple of hours, we talked. Sometimes, we talked through our ordeal from the individual perspective, others as a group. At one point, I even had Grace swap places with Myra, so my daughter could hold me.

I would love to say that meeting healed all wounds between us, but it was months before we felt open enough to talk to each other without feeling like we were walking on eggshells. However, Grace and I worked at it, slowly recovering our father/daughter relationship.

Grace even came to counselling with me a few times. My shrink helped us bridge a few of the gaps and issues, such as trust, that we never really resolved following our initial meeting in the café. One of the hard sessions was when I asked Grace not to cut her mother entirely out of her life. Sure, Kelly had been a manipulative, conniving bitch. But she was paying the price and she was still her mother regardless. She agreed to go and meet with her as long as I went with her the first time.

That was a difficult meeting. Not much was said as there was a lot of hurt between the three of us, but Grace did make an effort, the next week Kelly did write to me and tell me how thankful she was that I convinced her.

Six months later, after everything went down, I asked Myra to marry me. I proposed during a family dinner. Tilly and Grace cheered and told me it was about time, John shook my hand and told me to look after her, I barked a laugh as he smiled, repeating the same line I gave to him.

Not long after, Grace and John tied the knot. With my consent, Myra visited Kelly in prison and asked if she would give her permission to take on the mother of the bride duties. Kelly apparently cried but gave permission. Tilly was beautiful as a flower girl and referred to everyone as my second daughter. From that moment, I was no longer 'Uncle Bart,' but dad.

With a restored relationship with Grace, I walked her down the aisle and gave her away to a very proud husband. During our father/daughter dance, I felt her snuggle into me and whisper a prayer of thanks. That night I felt the last parts of reluctance to be around Grace disappear. Later, Grace even sent a series of photos and a letter thanking Kelly for giving Myra her consent to act in her stead. As I understand Kelly keeps them on her wall on her cell.

As the dust settled over the criminal case with Roger and Kelly, Regan negotiated a significant settlement for both Myra and I on the work front. For a while, Clarence refused to budge, saying he had done nothing wrong, but a week before our day in court, he made an offer, which Regan rejected. It was low and insulting. Then, two days before the court, he made another offer, which Regan countered, but resulted in Myra ending up with a high six-figure payout, while I ended up with a good seven-figure payout. As a multi-million-dollar engineering company, our payout was a minor consideration compared to the damage a public lawsuit would cost. However, rumours had already made the rounds, and Clarence's revenues took a significant hit until he retired and sold the company for less the thirty percent of what it was worth when I worked there.