Chapter 16
Ethan opened Lucinda’s letter six weeks later.
Not because Silvio asked.
He did not.
That mattered.
The envelope had moved from the stuffed shark to Ethan’s desk.
Then into a drawer.
Then back onto the desk.
One Saturday morning Ethan carried it into the kitchen.
“Can you stay?”
Silvio looked at the envelope.
“Yes.”
“Don’t read first.”
“I won’t.”
Ethan opened it himself.
Lucinda’s handwriting was familiar.
That seemed to bother him.
The letter was short.
Ethan,
I put you and Mia in the SUV.
I told myself it would only be a few minutes.
I wanted another adult to see what I believed your father refused to see.
When you became scared, I still did not open the door.
When Mia cried, I still did not open the door.
When the car became hotter than I intended, I still waited because I wanted Dr. Shaw to discover you first.
I was wrong.
You were never responsible for teaching your father anything.
Mia was never evidence.
I am sorry.
Aunt Lucy.
Ethan read it twice.
Then:
“She still thinks you bad?”
Silvio felt the question.
“She thought parts of my life were dangerous for you.”
“Were they?”
Easy answer:
No.
Wrong answer.
“Some were.”
Ethan looked up.
That surprised him.
“Aunt Lucy right?”
“About some things.”
“Then why she bad?”
Silvio sat across from him.
“Being right about a problem does not give you permission to hurt someone to prove it.”
Ethan thought.
“She wanted you change.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Silvio looked toward Mia throwing cereal pieces from her high chair.
Less security inside family rooms.
Council meetings moved away from the residence.
No operational visitors through the family wing.
Independent control over cameras and vehicle systems.
Therapy.
Reduced leadership.
All real.
Still.
“Yes.”
“Because car?”
“Partly.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then she got what she wanted.”
“No.”
That answer came quickly.
Silvio corrected himself.
“She wanted some changes that needed to happen.”
Another pause.
“What she did was not necessary to make those changes right.”
That distinction mattered.
Ethan looked at the letter.
“Can she know I read?”
“Yes.”
“Tell only that.”
Silvio did.
Lucinda sent no response.
Good.
A month later Silvio contacted Dr. Meredith Shaw.
Not through Lucinda.
Directly.
He asked her to review the estate safety structure.
Shaw sounded surprised.
“You know I was originally hired because your sister thought you were the problem.”
“I know.”
“And you still want my opinion?”
“I want an independent one.”
That sentence cost him something.
Useful.
Shaw reviewed the estate.
Her report was uncomfortable.
Too many security movements still crossed family spaces.
Too many adults could identify Ethan’s routine.
The safe room was appropriate.
The frequency with which Ethan had needed to practice reaching it was not.
Silvio read every page.
Then changed more.
Ethan noticed.
“You listened to her.”
“Yes.”
“Same Dr. Shaw?”
“Yes.”
“The one Aunt Lucy wanted?”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Then Aunt Lucy right again.”
“About hiring someone independent?”
“Yes.”
“Probably.”
Children wanted villains to be wrong about everything.
Adults did too.
Reality remained irritating.
Lucinda had identified real problems.
May you like
Then created a worse one.
Both could stay true.
