Blake noticed the fear in my voice and tried to push past me, but I held the door firmly while saying with absolute clarity, “She will never see you again if I can help it.”
His expression hardened with anger and something that almost looked like panic as he replied bitterly, “Enjoy your victory then.”
After he left the hallway I locked the door and knelt beside Sadie, who asked quietly, “Did he come to say sorry to me.”
I hugged her gently and answered, “Sometimes people say sorry because they want to escape consequences, not because they truly understand the harm they caused.”
Sadie thought about that explanation for a moment and then said with surprising determination, “I want to remember what happened so nobody can trick me into thinking it was my fault.”
My chest tightened with pride and sadness at the same time while I whispered, “That is very brave of you.”
Over the following months the case moved slowly through the legal system, yet the pressure on Blake’s business grew faster than the court schedule. Several employees filed complaints about unpaid overtime while a major safety inspector announced new investigations into job site practices that had been quietly ignored for years.