Chapter 23 - The Final Account
The last financial account from Saint Gabriel restitution closed seven years after the cemetery incident.
Independent administrator issued report.
All verified claims paid or resolved.
Remaining funds transferred to a housing nonprofit selected by court.
No Moretti control.
No Thorne control.
No political foundation.
The Westport locker materials moved to state archives after evidentiary retention periods.
My mother’s personal letters returned to me.
Isabella’s journals returned to Dante.
Original bracelet photograph remained with me.
Brass key WPS 3187?
Deactivated.
Returned as historical property.
I almost threw it away.
Naomi said:
“Keep or archive. Don’t romanticize.”
I gave it to state archive with case materials.
The bracelet remained on my wrist.
Repaired seam visible if you looked closely.
I liked that.
The other half stayed buried with Isabella.
No exhumation.
No symbolic reunion.
Some things belong where they were placed.
Dante’s public reputation shifted.
People stopped calling him mafia boss quite as often.
He still hated interviews.
Moretti Meridian became boringly corporate.
He considered that victory.
I became regional director for three boutique hotels.
Not because I wanted empire.
Because I was good.
We bought a house outside Richmond.
Not mansion.
Large kitchen.
Garden.
Nora chose yellow bedroom.
I planted white lilies near fence.
Mom’s favorite.
Dante complained deer would eat them.
He was right.
I replanted.
May you like
Life became annoyingly ordinary.
Exactly what Eleanor asked.
