She Framed Me As Unfit So I’ll See Her In Court Chapter 48
Caleb’s supervised visitation was never ended early.
He completed the required classes and started showing up on time, but he still needed the evaluator to confirm his risk level. After the first supervised visit, Maya came home without crying. She only told me:
“Dad said he did something wrong.”
I was slicing apples, and my hand stopped for a second.
“What did you say?”
“I said knowing you were wrong depends on what you do next.”
She said it in my mother’s tone, solemn as a tiny adult.
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Grandma teach you that?”
“No. I thought of it myself.”
She took an apple slice and ran off to the living room to do her homework.
I didn’t ask what else Caleb had said.
Whether he had truly changed should be proven through long-term action, not continue to take up my nights.
News of Sloan still appeared from time to time in the public case updates. During her sentence, she completed the intervention program and did not violate the no-contact order again.
Whenever I saw those notices, I only forwarded them to my lawyer.
Their lives had already left my orbit.
The law would keep the record of what they had done and supervise what they did next.
It was no longer my responsibility to punish them.
And it was not my responsibility to save them, either.
At dinner, my mother brought over the macaroni.
Maya took one bite and immediately scrunched up her face.
“Grandma, this one doesn’t have crispy edges.”
“You’re getting picky now?”
“Mommy likes the crispy edges, too.”
My mother shot me a look. “You put her up to this?”
I raised both hands.
“I didn’t do anything.”
Both of them laughed at the same time.
The kitchen light shone over all three of us. Suddenly I remembered that long-ago me, sitting on the cold bathroom floor, believing there was no longer a single door in the world that would open for me.
But now the door was right behind me.
No one was blocking it.
And no one was waiting to take Maya away.
I reached over, silenced the phone that had been vibrating nonstop, and set it face down on the table.
“Eat first.”