Chapter 15
The civil case recovered the money Ryan had already stolen from trust accounts.
Not all of it.
Enough.
His assets were seized.
Diane’s house was sold to pay restitution.
When I heard, I expected joy.
Instead, I felt tired.
Revenge is loud in imagination and quiet in real life.
Justice is paperwork, court orders, and finally sleeping.
Mrs. Patel became part of our life.
She visited with soup and guilt until I told her guilt was not a casserole ingredient.
She cried.
“I should have called sooner.”
“Yes,” I said gently.
“I will never ignore crying again.”
“That matters.”
She began volunteering with a child advocacy center.
Ava said our entire neighborhood was entering its accountability era.
Lily began preschool again.
A new one.
Small.
Kind.
The first day, she clung to me at the door.
I crouched.
“I come back.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She looked at her teacher.
“No chains?”
The teacher’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed calm.
“No chains. Only crayons.”
Lily considered this.
“I like purple.”
“We have lots of purple.”
She went in.
May you like
I cried in the parking lot like every other mother and unlike every other mother.
Both at once.
