Chapter 8 - Nora Visits
Nora requested to see me after learning police had opened the storage box.
She appeared behind the prison glass wearing a plain blue dress.
No makeup.
No wedding ring.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she said, “I’m sorry.”
“That won’t return the year I’ve lost.”
“I know.”
“Why did you lie?”
She looked toward the officer standing near the wall.
“Dylan said he would destroy me.”
“With what?”
Nora had helped him move foundation money.
At first, she believed the condo purchase was temporary.
Then she signed false contracts.
Dylan kept copies of everything.
When I confronted her, he realized I had enough evidence to expose them.
The miscarriage began that morning.
Nora had been bleeding before the dinner.
Dylan told her they could use it.
“He said you had already ruined one life,” she whispered.
“Caleb.”
She nodded.
“What did Caleb have to do with this?”
Nora began crying.
“Dylan caused the crash.”
My hands went cold.
“He was driving.”
“He was racing.”
The official report said Dylan was traveling below the speed limit when the drunk driver crossed the road.
Nora said Dylan had been racing another car.
Caleb begged him to slow down.
Dylan lost control before the other vehicle entered their lane.
The impact killed Caleb.
My parents paid the surviving driver to accept blame.
They altered evidence.
Dylan carried the guilt for years.
But instead of accepting responsibility, he transformed it into resentment.
“He said you looked at him like a murderer,” Nora said.
“I never did.”
“He believed you did.”
“So he sent me to prison?”
“He said losing the baby would make you understand what it felt like to have your future taken.”
I stared at her.
“You lost your child too.”
May you like
Her face collapsed.
“I know.”
