Chapter 22 - Now We’re Even
The prosecutor asked me about Dylan’s courtroom whisper.
“What did he say?”
“Now we’re even.”
“What did you understand?”
“At the time, nothing. Later, I understood he believed my prison sentence balanced the guilt he carried for Caleb.”
Dylan’s attorney objected.
The judge allowed the answer as my interpretation.
The prosecutor then played a voice note from his laptop.
Dylan had recorded himself days before the anniversary dinner.
Anna got to become the responsible one because I took the blame in silence. She built a career from rules while I lived under what happened. If Nora loses the baby, Anna will finally know what it means to watch a future disappear.
The courtroom remained silent.
He had not planned Nora’s miscarriage.
He planned to exploit it.
That distinction did not make him less cruel.
He used his wife’s grief.
His unborn child’s death.
My infertility.
Caleb’s memory.
The foundation.
Every vulnerable thing became material for his revenge.
When the recording ended, Dylan covered his face.
It was the same gesture he made when I was sentenced.
Only now I understood.
May you like
He had never been satisfied.
He was terrified someone would uncover what the satisfaction concealed.
