Chapter 5
Frank looked at Talia.
She took a long breath.
“Six months doesn’t feel like enough.”
“No,” Frank said.
“But putting Nancy through a trial would hurt her too.”
Jennifer nodded.
“That is why many families accept pleas in cases like this.”
Talia looked at the papers.
“I want him to say what he did.”
“That can be part of it.”
“Then we accept.”
Two weeks later, they sat in court while Royce Camden stood before a judge and read from a prepared statement.
His voice was flat.
His jaw tight.
Every word seemed to cost him.
“I accept responsibility for injuring my granddaughter. I acted out of anger and used excessive force. I understand the harm I caused, and I apologize to the victim and her family.”
It was not warm.
It was not enough.
But it was public.
It was recorded.
It was something Royce had never been forced to do before.
Tell the truth where everyone could hear it.
The judge accepted the plea.
Six months in county jail.
Two years probation.
Mandatory counseling.
No contact with Nancy.
No unsupervised contact with minors.
When Royce was led out, Patricia cried in the gallery. Monica sat stiff, eyes fixed on the floor.
Nadia sat beside Frank and Talia.
When the door closed behind Royce, she let out a breath that sounded sixteen years old.
“It’s over,” she whispered.
Frank looked at her.
“It’s starting to be.”
Outside the courthouse, reporters waited because the case had become local news. Frank and Talia gave one short statement.
“Children deserve protection, even when the person who hurt them is family.”
That was all.
May you like
They went home.
That evening, Frank grilled burgers in the backyard while Nancy swung on the swing set, her healed arm strong enough to hold the chain again.
