Joy
On the other side of town, Joy Wallis was also contemplating her financial future. Rod had demanded a trial separation after the defamation trial, and this personal trial, like the other one, seemed to have no end in sight. Rod was still aloof, distant, and angry, though Joy still lived in comfort in the house they had shared, and Kate's college expenses were still being paid for, along with Joy's considerable upkeep. The end result hadn't been all that bad so far; she did what she wanted, within reason, though tongues still wagged all over Skylin about her and Kate and Jeanette Turner.
Joy wasn't all that worried. A divorce would be bad for Rod's sterling image as a husband and father and stand up guy, not to mention she'd take him to the cleaners twice over and leave him destitute, and he knew it. Little did Rod know he had also paid for the bullet that had silenced the truth that would ruin Joy. She gazed out at the back garden where Scott Jones was buried. Buried along with all he knew. No one would be asking him any questions any more, especially not Kate.
A smile touched Joy's eyes briefly. Scott had loved the grounds here, loved spending his days sweating to make something beautiful, though that hadn't carried over to his skills as a lover. He had only been a distraction, something to break up the soul-killing boredom of being a trophy wife. She had once found Rod's strict personal code of honor endearing, but now it was like iced tea with too much sugar, and she felt like her teeth would rot. He was to blame for the wedge between them.
Rod's daughter Ashley was another matter, and she would have to be dealt with before too much longer, before she started wanting to live like the daughter of Rod Wallis again, and not some struggling college student. Before she got to her daddy with what she thought she knew.
Joy stared unseeing at the back grounds. Scott had known too much, and so did Ashley. She was the wild card Joy couldn't afford. There was room enough for both Ashley and Scott out there. The grief her death would cause could be just the tool Joy needed to bring Rod home. He was a caricature, but she missed him sometimes. Skylin's own fish out of water.
She slouched away from the window, heading to Rod's office to check her email again. Kate was getting slower to reply all the time. Kids were such ungrateful leeches, until they had kids of their own who gave them the same shoddy treatment.