He had planned it.

But he planned it under one crucial assumption.

That his wife and child were nowhere near the aircraft.

That realization felt almost worse.

He was not accidentally cruel.

He had simply compartmentalized us so completely that he felt safe celebrating his next life while still living inside ours.

PART 15 — SOPHIA

The next morning I called a family lawyer.

Sophia Ramirez.

She listened without dramatic expressions.