Chapter 16 - What Ethan Finally Said
Ethan asked to see me before he was transferred to prison.
I almost said no.
But something made me go.
The visiting room was cold and gray. Ethan sat on the other side of the glass, wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hands cuffed. He looked smaller than I remembered. Older.
When he saw me, he leaned forward.
“Megan,” he said. “Thank you for coming.”
I didn’t say anything.
He looked down at his hands.
“I never meant for it to go this far,” he said. “At first it was just about the money. David had everything. The house. The trust. The life. I just wanted a piece of it. Then Elena… she made it bigger. She said we could have it all if we just… removed the obstacles.”
“Obstacles,” I repeated. “You mean me. And Lily.”
He flinched. “I never wanted to hurt her. She’s my niece.”
“She’s David’s daughter,” I said. “Not yours. You were never her family. You were just waiting to steal from her.”
Ethan was quiet for a long moment.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “For what it’s worth.”
I looked at him through the glass.
“It’s not worth much,” I said. “But I hope you remember this feeling every day for the rest of your life. The feeling of having lost everything because you were too greedy to be grateful for what you had.”
I stood up.
“Goodbye, Ethan.”
I walked out without looking back.
When I got home, Lily was waiting.
“Did you see him?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Did he say sorry?”
“He did.”
She thought about that.
“Do you believe him?”
“No,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. He can’t hurt us. That’s what matters.”
Lily nodded.
May you like
Then she hugged me.
“I’m glad you went,” she said. “Now we can really start over.”
