“And now?”

I looked at Samuel, asleep on the rug with his ball tucked under his arm. “Now I know that staying silent would have been the real betrayal — of you, and of our kids.”

Chapter 10 — The Trial

The trial ran nearly eleven months. Justin cooperated fully, handing prosecutors text messages, ledgers, and recordings. Our accountant admitted Stephanie had repeatedly pressured him to alter reports.

The security footage showed my mother hiding Ashley’s keys, my father blocking the doorway, and Stephanie barring Samuel from the table.

The hardest clip came from the early morning hours. Ashley sat on the concrete floor, rubbing her stomach, and Samuel woke shivering and asked whether his dad was ever coming home to save them.

She wrapped her arms around him. “Your dad will always come home for us,” she whispered. Even in the middle of it, she kept my son’s faith in me alive.