Chapter 13 - Molly’s apology

Molly asked to see Claire and me together.
We agreed.
Lawyers knew.
No Noah.
She looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire asked:
“For what part?”
Good question.
Molly answered:
“For hiding a camera.”
Then:
“For texting Vanessa that I left proof.”
Then:
“For not finding another way to reach Adrian when the email bounced.”
I said:
“You didn’t know it bounced?”
“I got the error. I thought corporate security rejected outside email.”
“You had my phone number?”
“No.”
“Estate office?”
“Yes.”
“Why not call?”
“I was afraid Vanessa would answer.”
There.
Fear again.
Molly continued:
“I should have called Claire.”
Claire asked:
“Did you have my number?”
“On Noah’s emergency sheet.”
Silence.
“Then yes,” Claire said. “You should have.”
Molly cried.
“I thought I needed evidence first.”
That sentence appeared everywhere.
People believed they needed courtroom-grade proof before saying:
Something feels wrong.
Claire said:
“You could have called and said exactly what you knew.”
Molly nodded.
“Would you have believed me?”
“Yes.”
Molly looked at me.
I answered honestly.
“I don’t know how quickly I would have.”
That was hard to say.
“I hope I would have.”
She nodded.
No absolution.
No firing now; she was already gone.
Later, after investigation, Claire hired Molly for occasional supervised childcare again.
I did not object.
Molly had made a risky evidence decision.
She had also tried to protect Noah.
People can be rehired after accountability.
May you like
No one had to become permanently one thing.
────────────────────