Chapter 13 - MY MOTHER’S CHOICE
The video was recorded nine years ago.
My mother sat in a motel room.
Older than I remembered.
Tired.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If Sadi ever sees this, I need her to know I’m sorry.”
I stopped the video.
“No.”
Roman sat beside me but didn’t touch me.
I pressed play again.
My mother continued.
“Elias is alive.”
My chest tightened.
“I met him tonight.”
I stared at the screen.
“He wants to come home.”
My father began crying quietly across the room.
“But Malcolm knows where Sadi is.”
My mother looked terrified.
“He said if Elias returns publicly, he will hurt our daughter.”
She wiped her eyes.
“So I told Elias to stay away.”
I whispered, “Mom…”
“I told Sadi her father abandoned us because hatred was safer than hope.”
My father covered his mouth.
The video continued.
“If she hates him, she won’t search.”
Tears blurred my vision.
“If she doesn’t search, Malcolm can’t use her.”
My mother leaned closer.
“Sadi, your father loved you.”
Her voice cracked.
“So did I.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Seventeen years of anger suddenly had nowhere to go.
My father looked at me.
“I wanted to come home every day.”
I walked toward him.
Then stopped.
“You should have found another way.”
“I know.”
“I lost both of you.”
“Yes.”
He cried openly.
“I’m sorry.”
This time I let him hug me.
It wasn’t healing.
Not yet.
But it was a beginning.
Roman stood apart.
When my father released me, I looked at him.
Roman’s eyes held no expectation.
No demand.
“I need time.”
He nodded.
“I’ll give you all of it.”
“I’m not leaving.”
His face changed.
“But I’m not pretending everything is okay.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.”
Before we could say more, Marcus burst into the room.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Malcolm made a deal.”
Roman’s face hardened.
“With prosecutors?”
“No.”
Marcus handed him a tablet.
A live news feed filled the screen.
Trevor stood outside the hospital surrounded by reporters.
Apparently, he had discharged himself.
A microphone was pushed toward him.
Trevor looked directly into the camera.
“I worked for Malcolm Reed.”
Flashbulbs exploded.
“I also helped him monitor Sadi Monroe.”
My stomach tightened.
Trevor continued.
“And I have evidence that Vale Holdings covered up crimes for decades.”
Roman stared at the screen.
A reporter shouted.
“Are you accusing Roman Vale?”
Trevor paused.
Then said:
“Yes.”
The stock ticker beneath the broadcast immediately began falling.
May you like
Roman’s company was collapsing in real time.
And Trevor had just declared war.
