Chapter 15
Vanessa broke first.
Not in court.
In a holding room.
She thought the camera was off.
It was not.
She screamed at her lawyer that Eric had ruined everything.
“He promised Daniel would sign,” she said. “He promised the girl would be gone by September.”
The girl.
Me.
“He said Daniel was too guilty over Laura to fight his own brother.”
Dad watched the clip in our living room with his hands pressed together.
I sat beside him.
Not touching.
Close enough.
Vanessa kept talking.
“Eric gave me the accident file. He said Daniel would do anything to keep it buried.”
Dad stood and walked out before the clip ended.
I followed.
He was in Mom’s old garden.
The roses were dead because Vanessa had ordered the gardeners to stop caring for them.
Dad knelt in the dirt.
“I let her erase too much,” he said.
I knelt beside him.
“We can plant new ones.”
He looked at me.
“You want that?”
I nodded.
“For Mom.”
The next day, we bought rose bushes.
White ones.
Mom’s favorite.
Clara came.
Marcus dug holes.
Dad ruined his expensive shoes.
I laughed at him.
He laughed too, surprised, like joy had tapped his shoulder and he did not recognize it.
While we planted, Detective Reyes called.
Vanessa’s statement had led them to Eric’s private storage unit.
Inside, they found copies of the accident files.
And a recording.
Mom’s voice.
Dad turned pale when Reyes told him.
I wanted to hear it.
Dad did not.
Not at first.
He said he was scared.
I had never heard him say that before.
That night, we sat together in the study.
Clara held my hand.
Dad pressed play.
Mom’s voice filled the room.
Angry.
Alive.
“Eric, stop calling me. I will not ask Daniel for money again. If you threaten this family one more time, I will tell him everything.”
Then Eric’s voice.
Cold.
“You always thought you were better than us, Laura.”
The recording ended there.
I cried so hard I could not breathe.
May you like
Dad held me.
And for the first time, I felt like Mom was fighting with us.
