Chapter 16
Cassandra eventually moved back in with Tobias.
Not into the old house.
A new one.
That mattered to her.
No Westbrook estate.
No Carrow family compound.
Neutral ground.
She kept her own study.
Her own accounts.
Her own Sunday schedule.
Tobias complained once about how often she visited me.
She packed a bag.
He apologized before she reached the door.
Progress through fear of consequences, perhaps.
Still progress.
Their marriage remained imperfect.
Good.
I distrust stories where one apology rebuilds years.
Tobias never returned to Westbrook command.
That was permanent.
He built his construction company into something respectable.
Daniel mocked him for becoming ordinary.
Tobias replied:
“Ordinary is underrated.”
Cassandra told me that with great satisfaction.
Daniel’s independent Carrow group lasted eleven months.
Turns out men who join because each was promised personal authority become difficult to manage once authority must be shared.
Shocking.
Michael returned asking for his old Westbrook role.
I said no.
Nathan built something smaller elsewhere.
Daniel moved south.
No war.
No tragic showdown.
Just ambition discovering logistics.
Ansel turned eight.
His hearing changed slightly.
New devices.
He chose blue molds because he liked them.
For years adults tried to make hearing aids invisible.
Skin-tone pieces.
Hair covering them.
Subtle designs.
Ansel wanted blue.
Bright.
Obvious.
I almost cried at the appointment.
He rolled his eyes.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Stop.”
I stopped.
He smiled.
Then:
“They’re mine.”
Exactly.
When we got home, he showed Cassandra.
Then Tobias.
Tobias said:
“Those look cool.”
No touching.
No asking to see.
Just words.
Ansel grinned.
The devices that once became tools of control were now simply part of him.
May you like
Visible because he wanted them visible.
That felt like winning something nobody had the right to turn into a contest.
