Chapter 28
Chapter 28: The Summons
Three months passed. The crisp autumn air brought a sense of renewal to the city, but a heavy envelope in the mailbox threatened to drag the past back into the light.
It was the official summons for Silas’s sentencing hearing.
That night, after the girls were asleep, Marcus found Danielle sitting on the edge of their bed, staring at the thick, embossed paper.
"You don't have to go," Marcus said, sitting beside her and taking her hand. "The prosecutor said it's an open-and-shut case. The kidnapping charge alone carries a life sentence. You don't owe him your presence."
"I don't owe him anything," Danielle agreed, her voice steadying. "But I owe this to myself. For weeks, that monster made me feel like a mouse trapped in a maze. He made me doubt my ability to protect my own children."
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She stood up, walking over to the mirror. The bruised, exhausted woman from the ambulance was gone. In her place stood a mother who had walked through the fire and emerged forged in steel.
"I'm going, Marcus. I need him to see that he didn't break us."
