“Your son hates you.”
The words struck deep.
But they no longer controlled me.
“Perhaps he does,” I said. “That is his burden.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“You have nothing left.”
I thought of Luis and the cooperative.
The students who would receive scholarships.
The farmers who would receive emergency grants.
Clara standing beside me.
Daniel’s letters.
The cottage beside the west orchard.
“I have more than you ever understood.”
An officer moved closer.
Victor stepped backward.
The damaged floor shifted beneath his feet.
For a second, he lost his balance.
Every person on the platform gasped.
Victor caught the edge of a support beam and hung above the drainage channel.
One hand slipped.
An officer reached toward him, but the distance was too great.
Victor looked at me.
“Help me.”
The man who stole from me, used my children, and spent years dismantling my life now depended on the person he considered weakest.
