Chapter 13 - No One to Blame
The financial records removed the last comfortable places for Victoria to hide.
Money intended for Noah had paid personal bills.
Money from the twins’ account had covered more spending and transfers to Marianne.
The claimed forty-thousand-dollar payment to Emily had never happened.
Investigators obtained the original files behind the forged agreement. Their history placed the documents on Victoria’s computer before the assault.
There was no single magical piece of evidence.
There were dates.
Transfers.
Messages.
Photographs.
Emily’s account, staying consistent while Victoria’s explanations kept changing.
The hospital preserved its record of the call requesting withdrawal of assistance.
The police compared it with the phone information.
The story grew smaller and uglier.
A woman had taken money.
Another woman had discovered enough to frighten her.
When control started slipping, she used force.
Months passed.
The twins learned to roll over.
Noah returned to school for half days.
Emily began working through a different agency with a schedule she had chosen.
Victoria’s visits remained supervised while the court required further assessments and reviewed her conduct.
After one visit, she asked whether I would speak to her with our attorneys present.
I agreed.
She cried before anyone sat down.
“I lost control.”
Hannah waited.
Victoria looked at me.
“I was exhausted. Everything was about the babies. Every time I walked into a room, someone needed something.”
“I would have helped you get help.”
“You were always working.”
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
“I was absent in ways I shouldn’t have been,” I said. “You could have confronted me. Left me. Told me you needed a doctor.”
She wiped her face.
“Then you understand.”
“No.”
Her hand stopped.
“You don’t get to make Emily pay for what you were angry at me about.”
Victoria looked toward her attorney.
“I never wanted the babies hurt.”
“But you were willing to risk it.”
No answer.
Then she said, very quietly, “Can you ask Emily to stop?”
There she was.
Still looking for someone else to move.
“The decision is hers,” I said. “And the criminal case belongs to the prosecutors.”
Victoria leaned back.
Her tears stopped.
“You’ll regret letting her do this to our family.”
I stood.
“She didn’t do this.”
Outside, Hannah checked her phone.
Then she looked at me.
May you like
“Victoria’s attorney just received the charging decision.”
For the first time, I didn’t ask whether there was a way to keep it private.
