Alistair is now serving a thirty-year sentence inside a maximum-security federal penitentiary. Recently, my attorney sent me a desperate letter from him filled with hollow apologies and requests for one phone call. I didn’t even bother opening the envelope or reading his manipulative words—I simply threw it into the outdoor fire pit.
As I watched the paper curl and disappear into gray ash, I finally understood something: true monsters become powerful when their victims are forced to face them alone. I no longer see my powerful bloodline as something I needed to run from; it is the strongest shield I could ever have to protect my child.
