Chapter 17 - The One Thing He Could Give Her
Ethan requested a supervised visit. Lily agreed to ten minutes with her therapist and Tessa present. I sat outside the room, listening to Noah tap a toy drum on the carpet.
When Lily came out, she wasn't crying. She was angry.
"He said he's sorry," she told me. "But he didn't say why he stayed on the couch."
I didn't make excuses for him. "You can ask him again when you're ready. Or you can decide not to."
Inside, according to the worker's notes, Ethan had apologized for not protecting her. Lily had asked whether she really was a bad girl. He told her no. But when she asked why he believed Vanessa, he could only say he had been wrong.
It wasn't enough. Only Lily could decide when it was.
The financial examiner submitted a preliminary report. Paige's company had received fabricated treatment payments, while Vanessa had used some of the money for herself. Ethan's negligent approvals had enabled the withdrawals. Attorneys began working to freeze remaining assets and seek recovery through the proper proceedings.
Meanwhile Grace's old friend Angela visited with a box of photographs. She brought Lily a recording of Grace singing the alphabet hopelessly off-key. Lily laughed until she hiccupped, then asked to hear it again.
"Mommy sounds funny," she said.
"She was wonderfully funny," Angela answered.
That night Lily put the recording beside her pillow. She slept with her bedroom door open, as she always did.
May you like
At two in the morning my phone buzzed with a message from Ethan: I'M READY TO SAY EVERYTHING IN COURT. EVEN WHAT I KNEW BEFORE CHRISTMAS.
The next line made me sit upright: VANESSA TOLD ME THE FIRST TIME SHE HIT LILY. I DIDN'T REPORT IT.
