Chapter 12 - Eleanor Confesses Her Own Mistake
Eleanor asked Sophia to sit with her.
“I need to tell you something before Daniel does.”
Sophia was exhausted by that sentence.
Eleanor had known Anna planned to drive to Boston the night she died.
Anna wanted to meet a federal investigator.
Daniel found out.
How?
Eleanor told him.
Sophia stared.
“I thought he was going to stop her from reopening Ravenwood.”
“You told him where she was going?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor cried.
“I didn’t know he would hurt her.”
Sophia stood.
“You all say that.”
Eleanor covered her face.
“I know.”
“You all make one selfish decision, then act shocked when someone else
pays for it.”
Eleanor did not defend herself.
That mattered.
Investigators later found evidence that Daniel had contacted a mechanic
hours before Anna’s crash.
The mechanic admitted being paid to damage a steering component.
He claimed he believed the car would become disabled.
Not crash.
The legal details would take months to resolve.
Sophia did not need every answer that day.
She had enough to understand her mother had not simply lost control in
the rain.
Someone had interfered with the car.
And Eleanor’s careless disclosure had helped Daniel find her.
Eleanor whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Sophia looked at her.
“I believe you.”
Eleanor’s eyes lifted.
Sophia continued.
“That doesn’t mean I forgive you.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I know.”
May you like
For the first time, Sophia understood that forgiveness was not a debt
victims owed people who finally confessed.
