Chapter 7 - No More Silence
Ethan finally spoke.
"Claire."
She did not answer.
"I didn't mean for this to happen."
Her eyes lifted.
"What exactly didn't you mean?"
He had no answer.
The silence was devastating.
Victoria looked at him.
"Ethan..."
He turned toward her.
"Not now."
Claire heard the exchange.
She understood something.
Whatever relationship existed between them, it was beginning to crack.
The judge remained at the bench.
"Mr. Bennett, you will answer questions when instructed."
Ethan nodded.
Claire looked down.
She was exhausted.
But strangely, she was no longer afraid of the truth.
Fear had protected Ethan for too long.
Fear had made her doubt herself.
Fear had made her accept explanations that never made sense.
Fear had made her believe that surviving quietly was the same thing as surviving safely.
It wasn't.
Her attorney crouched beside her.
"Are you able to stand?"
Claire shook her head.
"Not yet."
"That's okay."
She breathed slowly.
The courtroom was quiet again.
The officers remained near the doors.
The judge looked over the room.
"No one leaves until we establish what happened."
Those words settled over everyone.
Claire closed her eyes.
She thought about the life she had imagined.
A husband.
A child.
A home.
A future.
It had all seemed certain.
Now certainty was gone.
But perhaps certainty had been another prison.
Perhaps starting over required accepting that the future could not be controlled.
She placed her hand over her stomach.
The baby moved again.
Claire smiled through her tears.
"You're still with me."
The words were almost inaudible.
But they gave her strength.
She looked toward Ethan.
He looked back.
There was something in his expression she had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of losing her.
Fear of what would happen when the truth became impossible to hide.
Claire turned away.
May you like
For the first time, she did not care whether he regretted what he had done.
She cared only about what happened next.
