Chapter 20 - The Last Thing Nia WantedGrace said no.
The prosecutor said it was unnecessary.
Darius said yes.
Not alone.
Never alone.
The meeting took place in a conference room at Grace's office.
Attorneys were present.
Nothing was secret.
Nothing was informal.
Nia entered wearing a dark suit instead of ivory.
For the first time, Darius noticed how different she looked without the mansion around her.
Smaller.
Still dangerous.
But human.
That made what she had done worse, not better.
Nia sat.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Finally she said, "You look tired."
Darius answered, "Ava sleeps better."
Her face moved slightly.
"Does she ask about me?"
"Sometimes."
Nia looked down.
Darius could not tell whether that hurt her.
He no longer trusted himself to interpret her expressions.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Nia's lawyer shifted.
Nia ignored him.
"I want you to understand."
"No."
She looked up.
"You don't even know what I'm going to say."
"I don't need to understand why you pushed a three-year-old into a pool."
"I didn't plan for her to die."
Darius stared at her.
Her attorney immediately interrupted.
"Nia—"
She raised one hand.
"I said I didn't plan for her to die."
Darius's voice became quiet.
"You searched how long she could survive underwater."
"I wanted to know the risk."
"You turned off the camera."
"I wanted to scare her."
"Why?"
Nia's jaw tightened.
"Because she controlled everything."
Darius almost stood.
Grace placed a hand on his arm.
Nia continued.
"Not intentionally. She was a child. But every decision in that house came back to Ava. The trust. Leah's money. Leah's dog. Leah's nurse. Leah's room. Leah's rules."
Darius stared.
"You hated a dead woman."
"I hated living in her house."
"It was my house."
"No. It was hers. You just stayed there."
The words struck harder than he expected.
Nia leaned forward.
"I was your wife, but every door I opened had Leah behind it."
"So you hurt Ava."
"I wanted you free."
"Free?"
"From all of it."
"By killing my daughter?"
"I told you—I didn't mean for her to die."
Darius's eyes filled.
"Then why did you laugh?"
Nia froze.
For the first time, her answer took time.
When it came, it was almost inaudible.
"Because for one second, I thought I had finally beaten her."
Darius understood.
Not Ava.
Leah.
The trust.
The dog.
The memory.
Everything Nia believed stood between herself and complete possession of Darius's life.
He stood.
"We're done."
Nia rose too.
"Darius."
He stopped.
She whispered, "I loved you."
He turned.
"No."
Her expression broke.
"You don't get to tell me what I felt."
"You're right."
Darius nodded.
"You probably did love me."
Nia looked surprised.
"And that's what I'll spend the rest of my life teaching Ava."
"What?"
"That someone loving you doesn't make them safe."
Nia's eyes filled.
This time Darius did not care whether the tears were real.
He walked out.
Outside, Grace caught up.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Good answer."
Darius looked at her.
"I kept thinking the whole thing would make sense if I found the right motive."
"And?"
"It makes less sense."
Grace nodded.
"That's often what motive does."
Darius went home.
Ava was asleep.
Rex was outside her door.
Darius sat beside him.
Tomorrow the lawyers would negotiate.
Next month there might be hearings.
Months later, perhaps sentencing.
But the most important decision had already been made.
Nia would never again be allowed to define safety for Ava.
And Darius would never again mistake certainty for proof.
Upstairs, Ava turned in her sleep.
On her bedside table sat the cracked wooden bracelet she had once made for Nia.
Emily had repaired it with glue.
May you like
One bead still showed the fracture.
Nobody tried to hide it.
