And there was a rightness to the shape of it that I did not need her to learn from in order to appreciate.

The punishment fit the crime not because it was cruel, but because it was, exactly, the thing she had withheld.

I did not gloat over it.

But I did not pretend it was not just, either.

There is a difference between taking pleasure in someone’s suffering and recognizing that a consequence fits its cause, and I had made my peace with standing on the right side of that line.

I took no joy in Chloe’s community service or Julian’s warehouse wage.