Chapter 15 - The Apology Rosa Wouldn't AcceptGrant finally asked to meet Rosa in person.
He made the request through Lydia Shaw.
The answer came back the following morning.
Rosa agreed to a meeting in Lydia's office, with her attorney present.
Grant arrived ten minutes early.
He wore a charcoal suit and looked as though he hadn't slept properly in weeks.
For a man accustomed to controlling boardrooms, he seemed unusually uncertain where to put his hands.
Rosa entered five minutes later.
She wore a pale blue blouse and dark trousers.
Her cheek had healed.
But Grant couldn't stop looking at the place where he had struck her.
Lydia invited everyone to sit.
Grant remained standing.
"Rosa, I owe you an apology."
Rosa looked at him without speaking.
"I was wrong."
He swallowed.
"I didn't know what happened, and I acted as though I did."
She remained still.
"I should never have hit you."
Lydia watched carefully.
Grant continued.
"I've seen the construction footage. I know you ran toward Ella when she fell. I know you pulled her from the water."
Rosa's eyes filled.
For a moment, Grant thought she might thank him for finally acknowledging it.
Instead, she said, "You knew I loved that little girl."
He lowered his head.
"Yes."
"You knew I cared for her every day."
"Yes."
"You knew I would have done anything to keep her safe."
His voice broke.
"Yes."
Rosa leaned forward.
"Then why was it so easy to believe I would hurt her?"
Grant couldn't answer.
Rosa waited.
When he remained silent, she continued.
"Because your wife was standing beside you?"
He looked up.
"Partly."
"Because I was an employee?"
He hesitated.
"Maybe."
Rosa nodded slowly.
"At least that's an honest answer."
Grant took a breath.
"I'm prepared to accept responsibility for what I did. I want to make this right."
Rosa looked toward Lydia, then back at him.
"You can't make it right by saying you're sorry."
"I know."
"Do you?"
Grant remained silent.
Rosa's voice trembled.
"I lost my job. People think I hurt a child. My mother worries every time the phone rings. And Ella spent days believing that telling the truth might make her lose someone else."
Grant looked devastated.
"She's safe now."
"I hope she is."
"She's staying with Nora's sister."
Rosa's expression softened for the first time.
"Leah?"
Grant nodded.
"Good."
He took a folded paper from his jacket.
"I wrote something. A statement acknowledging that I had no firsthand knowledge of the cause of Ella's fall and that Rosa rescued her. Rebecca has reviewed it."
Lydia accepted the document.
Rosa didn't reach for it.
"Are you going to tell the people who rejected my job applications?"
"Yes, if you and your attorney agree on the wording."
"And the people who heard your wife accuse me?"
Grant lowered his eyes.
"I'll correct what I can."
Rosa studied him.
"Then start there."
After the meeting, Grant remained outside Lydia's office.
He watched Rosa walk toward the elevator.
He wanted to say something else.
Something that might make her understand how deeply ashamed he felt.
But there was nothing left to say that would not sound like a request for forgiveness.
So he let her go.
That afternoon, Grant gave Rebecca written authorization to circulate his corrected factual account to appropriate parties and to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation.
He also instructed the household administration office to correct Rosa's employment file.
The forged acknowledgment was segregated and preserved as evidence.
A revised record stated that Rosa disputed the allegations and that no finding of misconduct had been established.
Rebecca cautioned him.
"Don't destroy the original."
"I won't."
"And don't make claims about Celeste that the evidence hasn't established."
Grant nodded.
"I understand."
She studied him.
"You're taking this seriously now."
"I should have taken it seriously from the beginning."
Rebecca closed the file.
"That's true."
That evening, Grant returned to Leah's house.
Ella was at the kitchen table, drawing a picture.
He sat beside her.
"Guess who I saw today?"
She looked up.
"Who?"
"Rosa."
Ella's eyes widened.
"Rosie?"
"Yes."
"Is she okay?"
Grant hesitated.
"She's trying to be."
Ella looked down.
"Was she mad?"
"A little."
"At me?"
Grant's heart twisted.
"No, sweetheart. Never at you."
Ella thought for a moment.
"At you?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
Ella picked up a purple crayon.
"That's okay."
Grant looked surprised.
"Why?"
"Because you did a bad thing."
He swallowed.
"You're right."
She continued drawing.
A minute later, she asked, "Did you tell her sorry?"
"Yes."
"Did she say it's okay?"
Grant shook his head.
"No."
Ella looked at him.
Then, with the simple certainty of a child, she said:
"Maybe she needs more time."
Grant stared at his daughter.
May you like
She was five years old.
And somehow, she understood accountability better than he had at forty-one.
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