“No.” I pulled her into my arms. “You don’t ever have to be sorry for someone else’s lie.”
Her backpack pressed against my chest. She smelled like pencil shavings and strawberry shampoo, my brave girl trying so hard to be older than twelve.
Noah leaned into us too, his eyes fixed on Daniel. “Did Dad lie?”
No one answered right away.
Then Daniel rubbed a hand over his face. “This is getting out of hand.”
Mr. Meyers’ expression did not change. “Mr. Carter, you are required to leave the property.”
“I’m not leaving my children.”
I stood slowly. “You should have thought of them before today.”
His face shifted then. The mask slipped. Not all the way, but enough.
“You think money makes you powerful now?” he asked under his breath.
“No,” I said. “But truth does.”
For a second, the Daniel I married flickered in my mind.
