“I didn’t tell anyone,” he said, breathing hard. “I needed to know who people really were. I needed to know what was true.”
Abigail understood at once.
Ruth’s cruelty had deepened when she believed him helpless.
Abigail’s choices had all been made when she believed he might never walk again.
He had been protecting himself.
And, perhaps without fully knowing it, learning who truly loved him.
“What did you learn?” Abigail asked.
Michael looked at her across the garden.
“That the most valuable thing in this house has nothing to do with the house.”
The court hearing came in early November.
Abigail did not go. She stayed home, worked in the garden, and tried not to watch the clock.
Michael returned that afternoon with Mr. Collins, and one look at his face told her everything.
It was over.
Mr. Collins explained it simply. The judge had seen the full picture: the affair, the theft, the poison, the hired intruders, the messages, the lab report, the witness testimony.
Ruth was sentenced to ten years.
Derek got twelve.
