Page 31 of Amber's Fall

I frowned at her.

“You had a ton of people come forward and give statements about how horrible he was to you. I’m no lawyer, but I can’t see this even going to court.Not in the public’s interest,” she said.

She was right. A week later all charges were dropped. There was some press activity, and, of course, there were some of Andrew’schumswho tried to say what a lovely bloke he was until they were informed of my injuries. Morgan & Morgan distanced themselves from him, sending me a huge bouquet of flowers.

But it was the cheque I received that finished me off. A large cheque from the life insurance policy the company had taken on Andrew. Daniel had brought it in, and I wanted to tear it to bits.

“You can tear that paper up, Amber, but the money is still yours. Think of the baby. This could set you both up for life.”

It was a substantial amount; I could buy the apartment with it if I wanted to. Or the cottage in the country that I dreamed of.

I was staying with Tania and Bill and had yet to return to the apartment. They had given me clothes and toiletries to tide me over, but I knew I had to face that last hurdle.

Daniel had assured me the apartment had been professionally cleaned, and we made a date that I would go there with him to pack up my things. A charity would take everything else.

I wasn’t in a position to have a relationship with Daniel. He was just a friend, and one that I loved dearly. He wanted more, but I made a point of telling him that I had no idea if I’d ever be ready for another man in my life. I wanted to be honest and not string him along. He, Tania, and Bill became my saviours. They supported me during the very brief police interviews to close the case, and then when I insisted on attending Andrew’s cremation. No one else was there, but I wanted to be sure the bastard burned.

Only then did I feel free. Only then did I know I’d fallen as far as I could and there was nowhere but up.

I held Daniel’s hand as we walked back to his car. I hugged Tania and Bill, and we made our way back to their house. I had a cottage to look at the following day, funnily enough, not that far from Daniel.

The future was, finally, looking brighter. I placed my hands on my tummy and felt my baby shift. I had no doubts that my child was going to be strong and tough, he, or she, had already sustained an attack and survived.

I smiled, looking forward to meeting my child. Looking forward to the future and a freedom I hadn’t had in a long time. Another thing I looked forward to was reconnecting with Patty. It had taken some time, but I recognised that Andrew had done his best to isolate me from family and Patty. I had Marilyn’s number, and it was the first call I’d make. I had my suspicions there was a reason Andrew had kept me from her and it wasn’t simply because he didn’t want me to have friends.

The End

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