Chapter 14
Two years after the gala, Sadie was nine.
She had changed schools.
Not because of the scandal.
Because she wanted a program with better accessibility and an adaptive sports team.
Alistair supported the move.
Sadie joined wheelchair tennis.
She was competitive.
Impatient.
And terrible at losing gracefully.
Daphne said she inherited that from both parents.
The Montelli transportation company had completed its restructuring.
Its safety program was independently audited.
The executives responsible for inaccurate records were gone.
Westbridge's legal matters concluded through a combination of regulatory penalties, settlements, and individual consequences supported by the evidence.
Nathan Vale's professional standing was severely damaged.
Corinne had completed the court requirements arising from her treatment of Sadie.
She lived outside New York and had no contact with the Montelli household.
Alistair no longer pursued theories that the evidence could not support.
He accepted that Evelyn's crash would never be reconstructed with perfect certainty.
But the false safety records had been exposed.
The people who concealed them had faced consequences.
And the companies involved could no longer operate as though incomplete inspections were harmless paperwork.
One afternoon, Daphne brought Alistair an old photograph.
Evelyn standing beside Sadie's wheelchair when Sadie was three.
The child was laughing.
Evelyn was kneeling beside her, holding a small toy airplane.
Alistair studied the image.
“She loved that airplane.”
Daphne nodded.
“Sadie carried it everywhere.”
“What happened to it?”
“It's in the blue case.”
Alistair smiled.
He had forgotten.
Daphne hesitated.
“There's something else.”
He looked up.
“Sadie asked me yesterday whether she could visit the place where Evelyn died.”
Alistair's expression changed.
“She asked you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She said she knows where her mother is buried. But she doesn't know where her last day ended.”
Alistair looked at the photograph.
For years, he had avoided that road.
He had never wanted Sadie to see it.
Now she was asking.
Daphne said:
“She doesn't want to go alone.”
May you like
Alistair nodded slowly.
“Then she won't.”
