Chapter 8
Harold took a deal first.
Eleanor called him weak.
Adrian called him selfish.
I called him predictable.
He gave prosecutors locations, account numbers, names of doctors, security guards, and lawyers who helped make women disappear on paper.
Eleanor had a system.
Harold created problems.
Eleanor buried them.
Adrian forged clean documents.
Then the whole family gathered for dinners and laughed about their legacy.
My stomach twisted every time I remembered them around my table.
Twenty witnesses.
Twenty people who had first protected Adrian.
Only Maya had moved.
I asked her why.
She looked at Lila sleeping in the hospital bed.
“Because I already stayed silent once.”
That answer stayed with me.
Adrian tried to see me through his attorney.
I refused.
Then he sent a letter.
Claire,
I never wanted you hurt. The plate was a mistake. I panicked. My mother convinced me you would ruin us. I still love you.
I handed it to Rebecca.
“Evidence?”
She scanned it.
“Yes.”
Good.
Let his love letter become one more nail.
Lila’s custody hearing for Sophie came first.
Eleanor’s lawyer tried to argue Lila was unstable after “a long period of isolation.”
The judge stared at him.
“Isolation caused by whom?”
He had no answer.
Lila kept custody.
Sophie stayed with her.
The courtroom applauded despite the judge’s warning.
I cried so hard my stitches pulled.
Afterward, Sophie touched my bandage.
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
“My mommy hurts sometimes too.”
“I know.”
She thought about that.
“Bad grandma?”
May you like
I looked at Lila.
“Yes,” I said softly. “Bad grandma.”
