Chapter 13 - THE MAN WHO SAID HE WAS SORRY
Nathan eventually admitted taking the money.
Not all at once.
First he admitted the business withdrawals.
Then the gambling payments.
Then forging Jenna’s name.
He continued denying he had forged Emily’s signature.
Financial analysis contradicted him.
His attorney began negotiating.
Nathan wanted to avoid trial.
Part of the process required him to acknowledge the harm he caused.
He wrote a statement.
Jenna received a copy.
It began:
I made mistakes during a period of overwhelming grief.
Jenna stopped reading.
His grief.
His stress.
His failing business.
His loneliness.
His fear of losing his daughter.
Seven paragraphs passed before Lila’s name appeared.
When Jenna finally reached it, Nathan wrote:
I regret that my daughter became unintentionally involved.
Unintentionally.
Jenna laughed.
One sharp, furious sound.
He had cut tape.
Placed a metal box against Lila’s ribs.
Wrapped the tape around her torso.
Pulled her cardigan down.
Sent her into school.
Then told her nobody was allowed to see.
There was nothing unintentional about it.
The caseworker asked whether Lila wanted to hear Nathan’s apology.
Lila said no.
Two weeks later, she changed her mind.
Nathan’s apology was read aloud rather than delivered directly.
Lila listened quietly.
When it ended, she asked, “Did he say he was sorry for lying about Aunt Jen?”
The caseworker checked the page.
“No.”
“For saying Mommy’s money was his?”
“No.”
“For making me scared to tell my teacher?”
“No.”
The room went silent.
Lila folded her hands.
“Then what is he sorry for?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Finally Jenna said, “Getting caught isn’t the same as understanding what you did.”
Lila nodded.
“Okay.”
That evening, she asked Jenna if she could throw away the statement.
Jenna said it was her copy.
Lila carried it to the kitchen trash.
Then stopped.
“Actually…”
She tore it once.
Then again.
Then again.
Not dramatically.
Just enough that the words no longer formed sentences.
She dropped the pieces into the trash.
“I don’t want his sorry.”
Jenna watched her niece walk upstairs.
For the first time, she realized Lila had stopped asking whether Nathan hated her.
She was beginning to ask a different question.
May you like
Whether she trusted him.
That was progress.
