And strangely, that was freeing.

You can spend forever trying to win an apology from someone who genuinely does not believe they did anything wrong.

Or you can accept that the apology is never coming, thank them for making that clear, and finally, permanently, stop waiting.

I chose the second thing, in my kitchen, on the phone, and I felt the last thread of obligation to my sister simply let go.

Chapter 21 — Mediation

Two weeks later their attorney requested mediation.

We met in Thaddeus’s office.

My father looked older; my mother wore dark glasses indoors; Lucienne sat without her phone for perhaps the first time in her life.

Their opening offer was $10,000 over three years, in exchange for the original ledger and a mutual non-disparagement agreement.

“The original stays with my attorney,” I said.