Cameron asked what would happen if Maya got hurt.
Adrian answered:
“She’s not going to die. Stop acting like this is some kind of tragedy.”
When I learned about that recording, something inside me changed permanently.
I’d spent months trying to reconcile the man I’d loved with the man described by the evidence.
After that, I stopped trying.
Because Adrian had understood there was a risk.
He had simply decided our daughter was worth taking that risk with.
The day of Adrian’s plea hearing arrived beneath a gray spring sky.
I hadn’t seen him in person for months.
When he entered the courtroom wearing a dark suit, he looked thinner.
His hair had gone gray near the temples.
For a moment, I remembered our wedding day.
He’d stood beneath an arch covered in white roses and promised to protect me.
I had believed him.
Then he looked toward me.
His expression softened into something almost pleading.
