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I swallow a fresh rush of fear at the thought. It would kill him to be ripped away after just getting a fraction of his life back.
Over my dead body is he returning to prison for something he didn’t even do.
No one wants to disrupt what’s happening between father and son, but I feel the pressure of time as we wait. My overactive imagination has Pierce andhisfather at a fancy conference table in their fancy office, scheming for ways to destroy this beautiful person who’s already lost too much to get back. Ben might be sorry, but he can’t even begin to understand what’s been stolen from his son.
When they finally pull apart, both faces are blotchy and tearstained, but there’s a weightlessness to the air. Tristan even sends me a shy smile that pinches my heart. I’d fight heaven and earth to keep it there.
Ben grips Tristan’s shoulders and stares him in the eye.
“I was a terrible father to you,” he says.
Tristan looks down, and Ben gently shakes his shoulders to bring him back. “I was. I knew it, I just… God, I love you so much, son. I’m so sorry.”
He pulls him in again, and I blink away fresh tears.
“We’re going to figure this out, okay?” he says. “I promise you, Tristan. Whatever it takes.”
An hour ago I hated Ben Haverford. A half hour ago I considered forgiving him one day. Now, I could kiss him. (Metaphorically, of course.)
He still wears the same grave expression he had since he returned to his seat to sort through the rest of the twisted story, but he just said the one thing I never expected to hear:
“There might be a way out of this.”
I’m not sure where Tristan’s head is when I reach for his hand again, but he lets me take it this time. We lace our fingers and everything feels more bearable than it did a second ago.
“You’re right that if you tell the truth now, they’ll go after Kim,” Ben says, eyeing his daughter. “You’re also right that it’s very unlikely they’d believe you. But if we can find exculpatory evidence to prove Tristandidn’tdo it, we could file to have his conviction vacated.”
Maybe Ben is angry and hurt about Kim’s role in all of this, but he must have learned his lesson with his other child, because he’s shown surprising restraint since the confession. His lawyer persona immediately kicked in, and the conversation has maintained a calm, formal air as if Tristan and Kim were clients, not his children. Randall Harrison with his stupid office and his stupid connections might not be a slam dunk after all.
“But it’s what I deserve,” Kim says. “I need to set the record straight. I’m the one who did it. Ishouldgo to jail.”
“No,” Tristan fires back. “There’s no way in hell you’re going through that.”
Ben’s eyes fill with grief when they settle on his son. We all heard the fear in Tristan’s voice, the pain he tries so hard to hide. I can only wonder what Ben is thinking now that he knows he abandoned his son when he needed him most. Resentment is begging me to lash out with every gory detail of what Tristan suffered alone while his parents pretended he didn’t exist.
But it’s not my story to tell or my vendetta to execute. Somehow I know he’ll never tell them, which makes it even worse.
“It’s a tricky situation,” Ben says. “I’m sure many would say Kim should still be punished, but arguments can also be made that time, and therefore justice, was served. If it happened to be willingly served by someone else, well, then that’s on the parties involved. But yes, on the other side, legally, and maybe ethically, Kim should do time.”
Tristan rubs his hands over his head before dropping them on the table in frustration. “So the years I did mean nothing? I had my entire life ruined fornothing?”
“I’m not saying that,” Ben says, surprisingly calm for someone who looked like he could punch his son just over an hour ago. “All I’m saying is that a lot of wrongs were done, and we need to consider all angles as we sort out where to go from here. We have to consider Amber’s family as well.”
“You think digging all this shit up again would be good forthem?” Tristan asks in a heated tone. “I heard it took two years before they reopened the café and started to move on with their lives.” He shakes his head in a definitive motion. “They have their villain. They have their closure.Theythink justice was served. Isn’t that enough?”
Ben studies him as Kim blinks through more tears.
“But it’s the wrong villain,” she whispers. “If we go the exculpatory route, they’d find out and have that wound reopened anyway.”
Tristan releases a heavy breath. “Exactly. So we just leave it. Let’s keep quiet and move on like we always intended to do.”
“No. This isnotwhat we intended,” Kim says. “We had no idea what would happen and we can’t make you spend the rest of your life paying for something you didn’t even do. You’ve suffered enough!”
“My life is fucked no matter what,” he says.
I wince at the certainty in his tone. He truly believes that. He really has given up.
“I think you’re both right,” I cut in.
