for all the bad that had happened to us, our love was the balance point.
Therapy had helped us both a lot, and although we were each reluctant to take that step, it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We’d only ever been good at letting each other in—no one else. It wasn’t easy to open up to a stranger, but for the sake of our relationship, we knew we had to deal with our own issues separately to make us stronger as a couple.
It wasn’t easy. There were a few bad days back then. Especially with everything else going on.
We decided to see our own therapists not long after Kramer attacked me and while we were unable to leave Los Angeles. We couldn’t—we were caught in the middle of several cases brought against Foster Steadman and Frank Kramer.
It wasn’t until around eight months later that we felt we could move on from LA. I’d suggested Portland after working on set production there. I’d loved the vibe. People were friendly, the food was amazing, and there was a genuine appreciation for quirkiness and creativity. There were a lot of hipsters and vegans and backyard chicken farmers, but there was just something about the place that felt right. Moreover, despite being a California girl, I liked the rain.
Only a month after moving into a house in the Northwest District, Jamie proposed. We married in a small ceremony with only Asher and Irwin Alderidge as witnesses. Alderidge was an interesting fellow. I wasn’t sure I cared for a ruthless CEO being such close friends with my husband, but I knew the man had saved Jamie’s life, so I couldn’t begrudge him the friendship. Plus, it was obvious he genuinely cared for my husband.
My husband.
I caressed the platinum wedding band and citrine-and-diamond engagement ring on my finger.
It took awhile to get used to that. When I changed my name after the wedding, I went whole hog and returned to using Jane.
I was Jane McKenna now.
Life in Portland was exactly what we needed. While Jamie’s writing career grew from strength to strength with his second runaway bestseller, Doe (which was a love story and not the personal attack Jamie had once hinted at), and Brent 29 went into production, I built on my art career. It wasn’t easy. But it was the life we’d always envisioned.
The only moments of real gloom were when we got pulled back to LA for the cases against Kramer and Steadman.
It took two long years, but Foster lost everything. His production company went bankrupt, and he was sentenced to a combined thirty-three years in prison for involvement in racketeering and drug and human trafficking.
I could never have imagined the depths of his wickedness.
In the case against him for serial sexual assault, there was a long list of accusations from women against whom Foster Steadman perpetrated acts of sexual violation and coercion, in which he threatened to ruin or make their acting careers. He was sentenced to another twenty-five years for those.
He’d spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Kramer got two years for the attack on me, along with similar charges to those brought against Foster. He wasn’t getting out anytime soon either.
The pièce de résistance for us was that Elena Marshall came forward and admitted to taking a bribe to lie in Jamie’s case. Elena was charged for giving false evidence.
Jamie was exonerated, and since he hadn’t pled guilty, he could claim compensation for wrongful conviction from the state. The State of California provided a little over $50,000 per year spent in prison as compensation in a wrongful conviction. He’d put the money toward the lake house. Since it was a private lake, the compensation was a mere deposit. Jamie had invested a fair bit of his royalties into the house.
It was worth it to see the contentment he found here.
The road had been long, but the destination was everything we’d hoped it would be.
My phone buzzed on the table beside the sectional; I picked it up to see a text from Asher. It was a photo of him in a tux, all dressed up for a New York gala he was attending in a few hours. A benefit for literacy. Rita Steadman had brought her own money to her marriage, and while it wasn’t the billions she’d married into, it was enough to set up a new life in New York. Asher followed her there after the trials.
Seeing him testify against his father was heartrending.