Chapter 18 - He Expected Revenge
Andrew stood in court wearing prison clothes.
No expensive suit.
No secret identity.
No men waiting outside.
Just a defendant awaiting sentence.
He looked at me.
“You think you won.”
I said nothing.
“You think becoming some suburban father made you better than me.”
Still nothing.
He laughed.
“Your son will eventually learn what you really are.”
That finally made me speak.
“He already knows.”
Andrew’s expression shifted.
“He knows I made mistakes. He knows I kept secrets. He knows I’m his father.”
Andrew leaned forward.
“And when he asks why you didn’t kill the men who hurt him?”
The courtroom became silent.
I looked at Toby, sitting between Isabelle and Marcus.
Then back at Andrew.
“I’ll tell him because I wanted to come home.”
Andrew’s smile disappeared.
That was the difference between us.
He believed power meant making someone disappear.
I had learned power meant refusing to become the monster someone expected.
The judge imposed a sentence that ensured Andrew would spend decades behind bars.
Richard had already received his.
Charles faced separate proceedings overseas.
Project Hearth was dismantled.
Its victims were being identified and supported.
The machine that had survived through fear finally stopped because enough people spoke.
Outside the courthouse, reporters shouted questions.
I answered only one.
“What do you want people to know?”
I looked toward Toby.
“That children should never have to earn protection.”
Then we left.
No victory speech.
No celebration.
We bought pizza.
Toby demanded pineapple.
Marcus called it a crime against humanity.
Toby told him he was old.
For the first time, laughter didn’t hurt.
That night, I checked Toby’s bedroom.
He was asleep.
No nightmare.
No trembling.
Just an eight-year-old boy sprawled sideways across his bed with one foot sticking from the blanket.
I closed the door halfway.
Then I heard him.
“Dad?”
I opened it again.
“Yeah?”
“You’re coming to my game tomorrow, right?”
I smiled.
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
Such a small word.
May you like
But after everything we had survived, it sounded like freedom.
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