Chapter 5 - The Final Confrontation
We walked out of the courtroom into the bright afternoon sunlight.
Sarah squeezed my shoulder. "I have to get back to the office for a closing, Hannah. You good?"
"I'm great, Sarah," I smiled. "Thank you. For everything."
As Sarah walked toward the parking garage, I saw Richard standing near the stone steps of the courthouse, waiting alone. Arthur Vance had already abandoned him, hurrying down the street with his briefcase to save his own failing license.
Richard looked at me as I approached the steps. He looked defeated, broken, and utterly empty.
"Hannah," he said quietly, his voice lacking any of its former poison.
I stopped ten feet away from him.
"You really turned out like your mother," he muttered, looking at the ground. "Stubborn. Cold."
"No, Richard," I said, my voice soft, clear, and completely free of anger. "My mother was loving, loyal, and brave. You just mistook her kindness for weakness, the same way you mistook mine."
"I have nothing," he whispered, tears finally welling in his cold eyes—not from remorse, but from self-pity. "I'm broke. I have nowhere to go."
"You had a home," I said. "You had a daughter. You had a grandson who would have loved you if you were even half a decent man. But you threw it all away because you thought you could exploit people instead of loving them."
"Can't you... can't you just help me out? A little bit? For old time's sake?"
I looked at the man who had left a fifteen-year-old girl on a porch with her life in trash bags. I looked for any lingering pain, any ancient fear, any need for his approval.
There was nothing left inside me for him. Only peace.
"You told me something on my patio four days ago, Richard," I said smoothly.
He looked up at me, confused. "What?"
"I told you that you abandoned me," I replied, stepping past him down the stairs. "And you said: 'You survived.'"
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I turned back to look at him one last time as he stood alone on the wide stone steps.
"Now it's your turn," I said.
