Chapter 20 - One Minute Before Two
Twenty years after the raid, Hart Forensic Advisory occupied three floors.
I had tried keeping it small.
Life had other ideas.
We trained investigators.
Supported whistleblowers.
Built compliance systems.
Consulted for companies that wanted to avoid becoming the next Vance Meridian.
Vance Meridian itself no longer existed under that name.
The profitable divisions survived restructuring and were sold.
Thousands of jobs remained.
The family empire did not.
That seemed fair.
Beatrice left prison after seven years.
Julian helped her find housing.
He did not invite her into his home.
Ava met her grandmother when she was eighteen.
Her choice.
Not mine.
Not Julian’s.
Ava came home afterward and said:
“She seems sad.”
I nodded.
“Probably.”
“Do you hate her?”
“No.”
“Do you forgive her?”
I thought.
“I don’t know.”
Ava frowned.
“You always say forgiveness isn’t the same as access.”
I smiled.
“You’ve been listening.”
“Unfortunately.”
She had Julian’s humor.
And my refusal to accept nonsense.
Dangerous combination.
Julian never remarried.
Neither did I.
Not because we remained secretly trapped in our old marriage.
We weren’t.
We dated.
Lived.
Changed.
Raised Ava between two homes.
Attended graduations together.
Argued about college.
Sat in hospital waiting rooms when she broke her wrist skiing.
Shared birthdays.
Built something that had no good label.
Family.
Just not marriage.
Years after the divorce, Julian once asked:
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t hit you?”
We were sitting outside Ava’s college graduation.
I thought about it.
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“I think I might have stayed too long.”
He nodded.
“That’s what scares me.”
I looked at him.
“The worst thing you ever did forced me to stop accepting everything else you were doing.”
His eyes filled.
“I wish I had changed before hurting you.”
“So do I.”
“Would you have stayed?”
“Maybe.”
He smiled sadly.
“Different universe.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Then Ava came running toward us in her graduation gown.
And the question stopped mattering.
