Chapter 10
School was worse than I feared.
Everyone knew.
Some kids whispered that I was brave.
Some asked if Vanessa had really been married.
One boy asked if my uncle was in the mafia.
I told him my uncle was in jail.
He stopped asking questions.
My best friend, Lily, hugged me so hard I could barely breathe.
“You should have told me,” she said.
“I didn’t know how.”
“Next time tell me anyway.”
That made me smile for the first time all day.
At pickup, Dad came himself.
No driver.
No assistant.
Just Dad in a dark coat, standing beside Clara near the gate.
Everyone stared.
I ran to him anyway.
He hugged me in front of everyone.
I let him.
That night, the company board tried to pressure him to settle quietly.
They did not want a trial.
They did not want press.
They wanted Eric to resign and Vanessa to disappear.
Dad put the call on speaker while I sat at the kitchen island pretending to do homework.
One board member said, “Daniel, public scandal damages shareholder confidence.”
Dad answered, “My daughter was threatened.”
Another said, “The company must come first.”
Dad looked at me.
“No. It must not.”
I stopped pretending to write.
He continued.
“For years, I made that mistake. I will not make it again.”
After the call, I asked, “Will you lose the company?”
“Maybe pieces of it.”
“Because of me?”
He turned my chair toward him.
“No. Because Eric and Vanessa committed crimes.”
“But you said I saved it.”
“You did. But even if saving you cost me the company, I would pay it.”
My eyes burned.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
The next day, Dad announced an independent audit.
Eric’s fake contracts were frozen.
Vanessa’s access was revoked.
Clara helped organize the documents because she understood them better than half the executives.
Dad offered her a legal position at the company.
She said no.
I panicked.
“You’re leaving?”
Clara hugged me.
“No. I’m staying with you until you don’t need me every day.”
I held her tight.
“That might be forever.”
May you like
She laughed softly.
“Then forever has a good schedule.”
