Diane was pretending to have a nice relaxing morning. She was sipping a cup of tea across from her previously estranged husband, a man she had thought she had segregated from her life just enough to keep him in her daughter's life and out of hers. She had met a new man and had slept with him immediately, something she had never done before, and she had made it clear that she wasn't that kind of woman.

Damon had accepted her word and the two of them had become good friends... great friends... and things had developed between them, despite them not having sex again and her need to take care of her daughter. She had been depending more and more on Damon as time went on and both her emotions and her mind liked that he never pushed her or tried to do more than a little cuddle on the couch.

Diane refused to admit that they were actually secretly her version of dates when she visited in the evenings, because she didn't want to admit that he had been the perfect man for her. Despite being insanely rich, he wasn't arrogant. He was just a normal guy that had money. He almost never showed off. He didn't buy out a restaurant for them to have a date there, or rented out an entire amusement park for her and Crystal to enjoy all the rides without lines.

No, he was reasonable and smart with his money. Unlike her.

When Damon had come to her that night and woke her up, then told her a fantastic story about being kidnapped again, she didn't quite believe him. She had honestly thought that he was making an excuse to abandon her... and Crystal... and that had broken her heart. When he turned around and gave her a promise ring, a ring that glowed when you said 'ray of light', she was too shocked to question it. She was still married and should never have accepted it.

The next day when she woke up, she had the ring on her finger and the doubts started. She questioned everything they had done together. Was he always manipulating her, or was it just recently, to try and get her to endanger her sole custody of Crystal? Damon knew her husband wouldn't approve of her dating another man, let alone accepting a future proposal from him.

She took off the ring to make dinner that night and took the food up to Damon's place, like she always did, completely forgetting that Damon had said that he had to leave the night before. It wasn't until Damon didn't answer his door that she remembered and it was much too late to tell Crystal the truth. She just said that he probably wasn't home and had forgotten to tell them.

Crystal was very unhappy and really disappointed that she couldn't see Uncle Damon as she cried. She was young and explaining what had really happened wouldn't make sense to her. That was when the doubts really started for Diane. When they went back to their apartment, she looked at the huge diamond ring and thought about it. Was it a hollow promise? Would he be gone again for another ten years?

Diane asked herself these questions, over and over for the next few days, then she decided that she couldn't keep wearing such a ridiculous ring. It always got in the way and she was constantly taking it off, anyway. She left it in her jewellery box, along with the extra thick wedding band that she had forgotten to give to Crystal. It was much too late to give it to her daughter, even though it had a ridiculous name that made Diane laugh whenever she thought about it.

That weekend was the court ordered visitation with her husband, and after a week without Damon's constant and reassuring presence to keep her grounded, she had eventually succumbed to her husband's mostly unwanted advances. The sex was as bad as she remembered and she regretted it after that first time... and then another week passed without Damon and her doubts, her intense need to have Damon cuddle her, made her more susceptible... and gullible.

Her husband had practically moved in that weekend and Crystal was happy to have him around. So, she accepted it and things seemed to spiral down from there. She had fallen into the same trap that she had fallen in the first time with her husband, and now all of the money Damon had given her was gone, as was Crystal's. That part she regretted, being sucked into handing over so much money that it didn't seem real.

It had all happened so fast that Diane was now so deep into their old dynamic that she couldn't fight her way back out of it. She had cut off all contact with her friends, both old and new, like her husband had wanted. He said that it was so that they could spend more time together, when in reality, he wanted her relying solely on him for personal contact and interactions. She had fallen for his schemes again.

Diane took another sip of tea and wondered if Damon was sitting at his breakfast table and enjoying a cup of coffee, when her world was suddenly shattered.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

“This is the POLICE! We have a warrant! OPEN UP!”

Diane was too shocked to react in any capacity. Her husband however, jumped up and ran from the kitchen. He didn't get far. The door burst open and several police officers rushed in, saw him trying to run and tackled him to the ground, and had him handcuffed before he could crawl more than a couple of feet on the floor.

Two more police officers came in and walked over to her. “Miss, put the cup down.”

“Wh-wh-what?!?” Diane looked at him like he was crazy.

“You're under arrest.”

“WHAT?!?” Diane yelled.

“Securities fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, drug running...” The police officer told her all of the charges she was being arrested for.

“But... but, I... I never...” Diane sputtered.

“That'll be decided in court.” The officer said and took the cup from her hand and had her stand up. He put handcuffs on her and she gasped.

“My daughter! She's still in bed!”

“Don't worry. We'll take care of her.” The other officer said.

“NO! Don't take my daughter!” Diane said loudly and started to struggle. She tasted carpet a moment later and didn't know how she got there. She started to cry. “No! She's all I have!”

“You should have thought of that before funnelling all that cash to your husband.” The officer said and picked her up.

“No no no no...” Diane continuously muttered as she and her husband were hauled out of the apartment. She was too stunned by everything that she had forgotten to curse and swear at him for doing this to her.

After everything that had happened between them, it was now his fault that she was not there for her daughter. Her husband getting arrested she understood. That made sense. Her being charged, too? No, that shouldn't happen. She wasn't involved at all. She also didn't know what was going to happened to her daughter. She had no one to call to take care of Crystal, because she hadn't talked to her friends in over five months and she didn't have any family.

“DAMON! Call Damon Smith! He'll take care of my daughter!” Diane managed to say as they waited for the elevator.

“Uh huh.” The cop holding her said. “Anyone else?”

“What?” Diane turned her head to look at him in shock. Damon would always take Crystal. He loved her.

“He's been in federal custody for two days.” The cop said and smiled. “Can you guess why?”

“N-n-no, I... no, he... why would you...”

“He gave you the money.” The cop said. “Follow the money, we always say.”

Diane closed her eyes and her emotional state devolved into fits of sobs, terror for her daughter, and hatred for her husband... and herself. Bitterness and despair filled her and she didn't try to fight the tears as they came. Her life was ruined. She had nothing. No home, no family, and she had no one to help her. She was lost. Utterly lost.

She was so distraught that she hadn't noticed that the door hadn't been broken. It had been unlocked.

*

Jenny watched as the elevator closed and sighed in relief. She hadn't thought that her still being listed as the owner had granted her the same rights she always had of getting the master key from the building manager to let the police into Diane's apartment.

“Ma'am?” A police officer said to her.

“Yes?”

“We need to search the rest of the apartment. Could you take the child out? We don't want to scare her, now that she's awake.”

Jenny gave him an incredulous look, then sighed. “I haven't seen her for over five months; but, I'll give it a try.”

“Thank you.” He said and waved for her to enter the apartment.

Jenny knew where Crystal's bedroom was and went right there. She could hear intense crying and sped up her walk. “Hi, Crystal!” She said and tried to make her voice sound happy. “I haven't seen you in sooooo long!”

Crystal wiped at her eyes with her small hands and looked at her in confusion. “A-aunt J-J-Jenny?” She asked, her voice cracking from crying so hard. “Where's mommy?”

“She had to go out and play with these nice police officers for a while.” Jenny said. “Do you want to come with me for a bit?”

Crystal looked at her, still confused.

“Let's grab a few things, like a change of clothes, and we can go upstairs to my brother's place.” Jenny said.

“DAMON!” Crystal yelled and hopped out of bed. “Is he there? He's there, right? I want to see him!” She said and grabbed a backpack, shoved two teddy bears into it and then went to her dresser. She put a top and pants into it and then came right over to Jenny.

“He's a little busy right now; but, I'm sure as soon as he's done, he will most definitely want to see you.” Jenny said. “We can wait at his place, okay?”

“OKAY!” Crystal yelled excitedly and practically ran out of her room.

Jenny jogged to keep up with her and they went to the elevator. They rode it up to the top floor and she used the spare key and not the master key as she opened the door. She never thought she would ever use the thing and she had used it several times over the last six months. She searched through everything, looking for any sign of where her brother had disappeared to without warning.

She didn't believe Diane when she said that he was gone travelling, since that was as lame of an excuse as anyone could make up. Something had happened and he had left without a word and she had tried to find him. She called everyone he knew, even the guys on his old work crew, and found out that he had sold them the construction business.

That had shocked her, because he had worked so hard to get that going. He had set it up to be a breakout business that made millions of dollars every year, that also paid more than their fair share of taxes. He honored the deal that Jenny had made with that first loan, to help the government as much as possible, and he refused to take any of the tax incentives that were available to him and the business.

Now Jenny was back in his penthouse apartment with a little girl that was excited to be back in one of her favorite places. Crystal still had toys here and she went right to them and started playing with them. Jenny turned on the television as background noise and went to the kitchen. She made up a quick breakfast of toast and strawberry jam for her and Crystal, then went to the living room and sat down to eat.

Crystal would run over and take a few bites of a piece of toast, as if that was a natural thing to do, and would go back to playing with her toys and half watched the television. Jenny watched her and wished that she could be that carefree again. No real worries, no understanding about what was going on, and not caring too much about the mess that the people around her were in.

The last six months for her had been hell. Absolute hell. She was forced to live on handouts from friends and family, while also trying her best to not get them involved in the same mess that she was in. She was thankful that her parents and her friends hadn't been forced into a similar situation. That would have been too much for her to bear. She couldn't imagine her mother being in a similar state and she was very relieved that they had refused all financial help from her brother.

Damon. Her brother.

Jenny's hand clenched on the remote and she gripped it hard as she thought about everything that had happened. It was all his fault and she had despised him for disappearing on her... again... and it wrecked her life. The thing was, she could accept that and move on, since it was her fault for relying on him too much and never questioning where he got all that money. Even though she knew he wasn't a criminal, could never be a criminal, in the back of her mind she thought that he had gotten the money illegally.

She could accept that, even if he was the world's biggest mafia boss. He was her brother and she could accept almost anything about him. What she couldn't stand, what had really irked her so much, was that he had left and hadn't said anything to her. That had hurt. It hurt so badly that everything else was almost meaningless in comparison.

Jenny let the remote go and leaned back on the couch to close her eyes. She went over the scene in the coffee shop, how she had treated him with disdain the whole time. He was her brother, someone she loved, and she had tricked him and given him to the authorities as soon as she possibly could. She stopped her tears, so that Crystal wouldn't see them.

She remembered the very last moment when Damon explained to her why he hadn't told her that he was leaving. He had tried to tell her, except that he had walked into her room and saw her having sex. He also said that he had lost his heart that night because of it.

He... he thought... he had lost me. Jenny thought, her anguish over it not actually being her that he saw, filled her mind. It had been such a simple mistake and it had wrecked everything. Her finances, her relationship with her brother, and her whole life had changed so much... all because of that one little detail of her staying in his room instead.

Her cell phone rang and she thought about ignoring it, then realized it might be Damon calling for help or for a lawyer. She pulled it out and looked at the odd number. It wasn't one that she recognized and she debated it for only a few seconds.

It could be Damon using another phone. Jenny thought and answered. “Hello?”

“Miss Smith? Jenny Smith?” A woman's voice asked.

“Yes?”

“I'm not sure if you remember me or not. I work at the bank you and your brother have accounts with.” The woman said. “I helped secure that first loan.”

“Oh! Yes, I remember you.” Jenny said. “It's been a while.”

“It has, and since I was involved in that initial contact, it has fallen to me to inform you that the court injunctions that have frozen your accounts have been lifted.”

“Wh-what?” Jenny asked, confused. “Why?”

“I'm not privy to that information.” The woman said. “I just know that the paperwork came across the bank manager's desk this morning and he handed me the task of telling you the good news.”

“The GOOD news?!?” Jenny said loudly. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Crystal giggled from not far away.

Jenny covered the mouth hole on the cell phone. “I'm sorry for cursing, Crystal.”

“It's okay. Daddy curses all the time.”

“That doesn't make it right.” Jenny said and spoke into the phone. “After all the notices of everything being seized, the accounts being frozen, and federal penalties and fines for not maintaining the contract's provisions, and you have the gall to tell me that it's good news for me, now that you can take it all and I won't see a dime of any of that money anyway?”

The woman was quiet on the phone.

“I sure hope your bank is ready to be sued into bankruptcy and to lose several multi-million dollar clients.” Jenny said and refrained from calling her a stupid bitch, even though she really wanted to vent and rage at her. “My life is in a shambles and I've had to borrow and beg for goddamn food for the last six months! How dare you think that you are giving me good news right now! Go ahead and tell me again.”

The woman stayed quiet.

“I want you to tell me that there's still some actual money left in those accounts.” Jenny said. “Come on. Make me believe you haven't already taken tons of money out of them, even though they were just unfrozen.”

“Government fees and fines are automatically deducted...” The woman started to say.

“Well, you better talk to your bank manager about getting all that back, because if they unfroze the accounts now, then there was nothing wrong and they shouldn't have been frozen in the first place.” Jenny said. “Unless you fix this up as soon as possible, you are going to regret it.”

“Threatening me isn't necessary.” The woman said.

“Why? Your financial institution ruined my life for no reason! How is that not worth a threat or two?” Jenny asked and she didn't answer. “Oh, and you better give us all of the interest that money should have gained during the last six months.”

“The accounts were frozen and no money has accumulated in interest.”

Jenny laughed. “Who's fault is that? It's not mine. So, you get right on fixing up all this mess and call me back when you have some actual good news to tell me and not to just relieve your guilty conscience.”

Jenny hung up the phone and stared at it, because she had ended up ranting at the poor woman anyway. It wasn't her fault that all of it happened, either. She was just a convenient target for Jenny's anger and hostility at herself. Her own guilty conscience weighed heavily on her and she sighed as she thought about what she had done to her brother.

She had betrayed her only brother because she was angry at him. She knew that betraying him was pretty much unforgivable, even if you loved that someone very much.

Jenny put the phone down and closed her eyes, because she wanted to call him immediately to ask for forgiveness, even though she didn't deserve it. She knew she didn't. She had been too quick to judge, too quick to anger, and definitely too quick to accept the reward money for turning him in.

“Come play!” Crystal said and Jenny opened her eyes to look at the happy little girl.

I really wish I was your age again and didn't have to deal with all of this. Jenny thought and went across the room to play with her.

“When's Uncle Damon coming home?” Crystal asked and handed her a teddy bear.

“Soon.” Jenny said. I hope.