Chapter 14
Five years passed.
Ellie was twelve when Victor came home under supervised release.
No weapons.
No contact with known criminal associates.
Financial monitoring.
Travel restrictions.
No control over Ellie’s trust.
No role in the outreach foundation.
No private security around Ellie without court approval.
He lived in a smaller house with plain furniture and a piano he did not know how to play.
Ellie visited with Angela the first time.
She stood in the doorway and looked at the piano.
“You bought that?”
“Yes.”
“Can you play?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“So you could, if you wanted.”
She walked over and touched one key.
It sounded too bright.
She pulled her hand back.
“Maybe later.”
“Okay.”
That word was one of the hardest Victor had learned.
Okay.
Not now.
Maybe later.
Your choice.
Celeste remained in prison.
Her appeals narrowed one financial count but did not change the core sentence.
The foster program rebuilt under an independent board.
Audrey’s attorney, Grace Ellman, sent Ellie a final envelope from Audrey’s file when Ellie turned thirteen.
Ellie did not open it.
Victor did not ask.
Angela did not ask.
Progress, for Ellie, often looked like adults not touching things.
The music box was repaired enough to play again, though one note stayed slightly sharp.
Ellie liked it that way.
May you like
“It sounds like it remembers breaking,” she said.
Victor understood that more than he wanted to.
