Chapter 17 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
I laughed so hard Priya had to wait for me to stop.
“He wants what?”
“He says it came from his lawyer, not him.”
“His lawyer works for him.”
“I agree.”
I rejected the condition immediately.
That evening, Caden asked to speak during his supervised visit.
Donovan was in the playroom with the court monitor. We sat twelve feet apart in the mansion library.
“I didn’t ask them to put that in,” he said.
“Then fire whoever did.”
“I did.”
I studied him.
He looked thinner. Smaller somehow.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because I spent six years letting Mom speak for me.”
“That’s true.”
“And every time she did, I told myself I was keeping peace.”
“You were keeping yourself comfortable.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
For once, he did not defend himself.
He handed me a sealed envelope.
“What is this?”
“A statement. Everything I knew. Everything I signed. Everything I ignored.”
“Why?”
“Because Donovan deserves one parent who finally tells the truth without being forced.”
I did not forgive him.
But I took the envelope.
The statement hurt him legally.
He gave it anyway.
The morning after the indictment, I sat with Mom on the mansion patio.
She watched Donovan chase bubbles across the lawn.
“You seem sad,” she said.
“I won.”
“That wasn’t what I said.”
I stared at my coffee.
“I keep thinking about how long I let things slide because I wanted Donovan to have an intact family.”
Mom touched my hand.
“An intact house is not always an intact family.”
Before I could answer, Priya called.
“Taylor, Bonnie wants to plead guilty.”
May you like
I exhaled.
Then Priya added, “But only if you meet with her first.”
