Eleanor covered her mouth with a sharp sob. “Richard… you knew?”
“I didn’t know how to protect her!” Dad wept, bowing his head into his hands. “I acted like a monster to save her life! I made myself the villain so Vale’s people wouldn’t look at her!”
I stared at him as ten years of bitterness began collapsing inside me.
His cruelty hadn’t come from pride.
It had been a desperate, frightening, cowardly attempt to protect us.
“Julian gave me this drive before he disappeared,” I said softly. “He knew Vale was coming for him. He made me promise that if anything happened, I would protect the baby and hold on to the evidence until the statute of limitations cleared the federal whistleblower protection protocols. Ten years, Dad. Today is ten years.”
Grace stepped forward and took my father’s rough, trembling hand between hers.
“Grandpa,” Grace whispered gently. “It’s okay now. Mom brought the truth back.”
Richard looked down at his granddaughter—the child carrying Julian’s gentle spirit and the resilient eyes of the daughter he had driven away.
