Chapter 8
Two weeks later, Edric stood in court wearing a suit that did not fit his fear.
His lawyer tried to soften the story.
He said Edric was stressed.
He said the household was complicated.
He said teenagers exaggerate.
Then the prosecutor displayed the hospital photographs.
No gore.
No drama.
Just evidence.
Matching bruises.
Matching patterns.
Two girls who had not fallen the same way.
Because they had not fallen at all.
Dr. Cooper testified.
His voice shook only once, when he said,
“I examined my daughters as patients before I held them as my children.”
Faye testified next.
She did not cry.
Chloe testified after her.
She did.
But she did not stop speaking.
Their mother testified last.
When Edric looked at her, she looked back.
For once, she did not lower her eyes.
The judge denied bail.
Later, Edric accepted a plea after learning the recordings and medical evidence would go to trial.
He was convicted.
He lost the house.
He lost control.
He lost the story he had forced everyone to repeat.
And the lie about the stairs died with his sentence.
The first night Faye and Chloe stayed at their father’s home, they slept in the same room even though he had prepared two.
He did not argue.
He simply placed extra blankets on the end of the bed and left the hallway light on.
Before closing the door, he paused.
“I’ll be right down the hall,” he said.
Faye looked at Chloe.
Chloe looked back.
Then Chloe whispered, “We know.”
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It was the first night in years neither of them listened for footsteps.
👉 But healing did not come all at once — it came slowly, in quiet rooms where no one controlled them anymore.
