Chapter 10
The court hearing the next day is straightforward.
With Victoria in custody and the evidence we have, the judge grants us full custody of Lily immediately. He also orders that Victoria have no contact with any of us until the criminal trial is over.
Mr. Henderson says the criminal case is strong. Victoria has already confessed to everything, and the evidence we found in the cabin— the photo album, the forged emails, the bank records—more than back up her confession.
"She could get ten to fifteen years," Mr. Henderson tells us after the hearing. "Maybe more, given the severity of the kidnapping charges."
Ten to fifteen years.
The number hangs in the air.
Lily is with my sister, who flew in from out of town to be with us. I haven't told her about Victoria's arrest yet. I don't know how.
"How do I explain this to her?" I ask Ethan as we walk out of the courthouse. The sun is shining, but I feel cold. "How do I tell my seven-year-old daughter that the woman she thought was her mother is going to prison?"
Ethan puts his arm around me, pulling me close.
"We'll tell her the truth," he says. "As much as she can understand. We'll tell her that Victoria made some very bad choices, and that she needs to be punished for them. But we'll also tell her that Victoria loved her. That it's okay to be sad. That it's okay to miss her."
I nod, even though my heart is breaking.
That night, we sit Lily down at the kitchen table in Ethan's house—our house now, I guess.
She looks between us, her big eyes curious.
"What's wrong?" she asks. "Is Victoria okay?"
I take a deep breath, reaching for her hand.
"Baby," I say gently. "Victoria made some very bad choices. She hurt people. And because of that, she has to go away for a while."
Lily's face falls. "Go away? Where?"
"To a place where people go when they make bad choices," Ethan says carefully. "It's called prison. She'll be there for a long time."
Tears fill Lily's eyes. "But why? She was nice to me. She didn't hurt me."
I pull her into my lap, holding her close.
"I know, baby," I whisper. "I know she was nice to you. And she did love you. But she hurt other people. She hurt me. She hurt Daddy. And she took you away from me when you were a baby. That's a very bad thing to do. And people who do bad things have to be punished."
Lily cries into my shoulder, her little body shaking.
"I don't want her to go away," she sobs. "I want her to come home."
I hold her, rocking her back and forth, my own tears falling.
"I know, baby," I say. "I know it's hard. And it's okay to be sad. It's okay to cry. But Victoria made her choices. And now she has to live with them."
We sit like that for a long time, holding each other while Lily cries.
Eventually, she falls asleep in my arms, exhausted from her tears. Ethan carries her to bed, tucking her in gently.
When he comes back to the kitchen, he finds me sitting at the table, staring into space.
"You okay?" he asks, sitting beside me.
"I don't know," I admit. "I should be happy. Victoria is in jail. We have Lily. We won. But I just... I feel sad. For her. For what her life became. For Lily, who has to go through this."
Ethan takes my hand.
"It's okay to feel sad," he says softly. "This isn't a victory, Elena. It's a tragedy. Three lives destroyed because one woman couldn't handle her pain. But what matters now is that we have each other. That we can heal. That we can build something good out of all this pain."
He's right, of course.
May you like
But healing takes time.
And the road ahead is going to be long.
