When it was my turn to cross-examine, having no lawyer, I simply stood.

My legs felt like lead. “Mr. Abernathy, have I ever left a mess in that building? Have you ever seen Nolan unhappy?”

“I… I just answer what I see on paper, Audrey. I’m sorry,” he muttered, rushing off the stand the moment he was dismissed.

Carroway then called my mother, Ruth. She walked up with her head held high in her dark-blue cardigan and her good pearl earrings.

He tried to tear her down, asking if she was the “real” parent because I was always working, trying to make her admit we were overwhelmed and incapable.

My mother looked directly into his eyes, her voice steady and echoing in the quiet room.