“In exchange for your full confession and a legal agreement never to attempt this again, I will help you and Lucas. Not by giving you half my house, but by setting up a trust fund for Lucas’s education and medical needs, and helping you find stable housing.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“Not for you,” I said honestly. “For Lucas, and because Adam would want me to help his nephew. There will be conditions: therapy, financial counseling, steady employment, and you will allow me to be part of Lucas’s life. Violate any, and the support stops.”
“I don’t deserve your help.”
“No,” I agreed, “you don’t. But Lucas deserves a stable home, and I deserve to have my husband’s memory untarnished. This solution gives us both what we need.”
Cassandra agreed. We would formalize it with James and she would confess at a family dinner. As I showed her out, she paused. “I really am sorry, Bridget. I’ve been jealous of you my whole life. Everything always seemed to come so easily to you.”
“Nothing about my life has been easy,” I replied. “You just never bothered to look past the surface. Maybe it’s time you started.”