Chapter 9 - CALEB FINALLY LOOKED AT ME
The criminal case took more than a year.
Caleb eventually accepted a plea rather than risk a trial on the most serious charges.
I attended sentencing.
He looked thinner.
Older.
For the first time since the hospital, we faced each other.
His attorney described stress.
Debt.
Poor judgment.
I listened.
Then I gave my statement.
I did not scream.
I did not call him a monster.
I simply described my life.
The crash.
The hospital.
Emma.
The money.
The fear.
Then I said:
“For years, Caleb told me I was helpless because that made me easier to control.”
He looked down.
“I believed him.”
I paused.
“I don't anymore.”
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That was all.
I walked out without waiting to see whether he cried.
