Chapter 17
The jury deliberated for two days.
Those forty-eight hours felt longer than seven years.
We stayed in a private room at the courthouse.
The children drew pictures.
Mia drew a yellow house with huge windows.
Lily drew five people holding hands.
Noah scribbled over everything and called it a storm.
Claire laughed.
A real laugh.
Small, startled, alive.
When the verdict came, the courtroom filled so quickly the air felt thin.
Caroline stood beside her lawyer.
Peter stared at the table.
Dr. Voss looked like a man already gone.
Guilty.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Fraud.
Child endangerment.
False imprisonment.
Murder charges connected to my father were set for separate sentencing after Peter’s full cooperation, but the first wall had fallen.
Caroline did not scream.
She turned and looked at Lily.
That was the only moment I feared.
Lily stepped behind Claire.
Caroline saw it.
Her face collapsed.
Not with remorse.
With loss of control.
Sentencing came later.
Decades.
Enough that my children would grow up without her shadow at the door.
Margaret pleaded guilty to her part and agreed to testify in every related case.
Claire chose not to speak to her.
I respected that.
After court, we did not celebrate.
We went home.
Our rented house glowed with warm light.
Ethan ordered too much food.
The kids ate on the floor picnic-style.
Mia fell asleep with sauce on her cheek.
Lily leaned against Claire.
Noah crawled into my lap.
Claire looked across the room at me.
“Is it over?” she asked.
I wanted to say yes.
Instead I told the truth.
“The court part is ending. The healing part is ours.”
She nodded.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“Ours sounds good.”
