Chapter 11 - DOMINIC’S OFFER
Dominic requested a private meeting.
My attorney advised against it.
Dr. Ortiz asked whether seeing him would affect my ability to remain emotionally present for Leo.
I considered both questions.
Then I agreed under one condition.
The meeting would be recorded.
Dominic entered the secure interview room wearing county clothing.
Without his tailored suits, he appeared ordinary.
That surprised me.
For years, I had mistaken polish for importance.
He sat across from me.
“Clara.”
I said nothing.
“You look well.”
“My son does not.”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
“I never meant for it to become that bad.”
“It?”
He flinched.
“Mother took control.”
“You struck him.”
“Only when he became impossible.”
“He was a toddler asking for his mother.”
“He screamed constantly.”
“So did you as a baby.”
Dominic looked up sharply.
I continued.
“Victoria told me stories.”
“You had night terrors.”
“You wet the bed until you were six.”
“You hid beneath tables when your father shouted.”
His face hardened.
“That is different.”
“No.”
“You became the adult you needed someone to stop.”
He leaned forward.
“Help me make a deal.”
I almost laughed.
“You asked to see me because you want protection.”
“If I testify against Brooke and Mother, prosecutors will reduce the charges.”
“You planned Leo’s death.”
“Mother planned it.”
“I went along because I was trapped.”
“You had millions.”
“A company.”
“A wife working eighty hours a week for you.”
“What exactly trapped you?”
His eyes filled with anger.
“You made me feel small.”
There it was.
The excuse beneath every betrayal.
My success became an insult.
My competence became humiliation.
Instead of standing beside me, Dominic built a room where someone smaller would always be beneath him.
“You could have left me,” I said.
“You could have divorced me.”
“You chose to torture our child.”
Dominic began crying.
I felt nothing.
That frightened me less than I expected.
“Do you still love me?” he asked.
“No.”
The answer arrived cleanly.
He closed his eyes.
“What about the years we had?”
“They happened.”
“They do not purchase access to the years ahead.”
He reached across the table.
A guard stepped forward.
I did not move.
“Tell Leo I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Dominic stared at me.
“You will tell the truth in court.”
“If his doctors believe he should hear your apology one day, he will decide.”
“You do not get to place your guilt inside a four-year-old and call it healing.”
I stood.
Dominic’s desperation changed into rage.
“You think you won.”
I turned toward him.
May you like
“This was never a contest.”
“That is why you lost everything.”
