He Won The Case, He Lost His Family Chapter 05

He Won The Case, He Lost His Family Chapter 05

“Tessa!”

I threw out my hand, but I was too late.

My daughter fell like a wounded butterfly, small and helpless against the face of the building. The impact below shattered something inside me that would never mend.

Graham stood frozen for one terrible second. Then he raced down the hall and took the stairs two at

a time.

By the time I reached the ground floor, there was blood everywhere.

Tessa lay twisted on the pavement, and more blood spread beneath her with every fading breath.

Her unfocused eyes searched until they found me.

“Mom… I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I couldn’t keep going.”

Each word brought blood to her lips.

I wanted to lift her into my arms and promise, as I had when she was little, that there was nothing to

fear. I wanted to soothe her with one more kind lie.

But I was afraid to touch her. She seemed so fragile that even my hands might break what remained.

The trauma team pulled me back and began resuscitation. They worked until one of the physicians finally stopped and shook her head.

“The injuries were catastrophic,” she said gently. “There was no cardiac activity and no sign of brain function. We were sorry.”

“No.” My voice did not sound human.

“That wasn’t possible.”

This was my child. Moments earlier, she had been standing in front of me, alive.

Only days ago, she had helped me plan the trip we would take after court. Our flight was leaving that

afternoon.

Tessa would never board it.

Graham remained several feet away, unable to approach her. At last, he spoke in a hoarse whisper.

“How could this happen?”

“Why was she so fragile? I only criticized her.

“Why would she do something like this over a few words?”

He looked at me. “You must have sheltered her too much.

“You never taught her how to withstand disappointment.”

“Stop.”

I crossed the space between us and slapped him. Tears streamed down my face before my hand fell.

“What right did you have to judge her? How many days of her life did you actually spend taking care

of her?”

“She was the kindest, most responsible child I had ever known. The person who should have been ashamed was you.”

Graham had always called himself a workaholic. He gave every hour and every ounce of energy to

his career.

The day Tessa was born, he looked at her once before leaving for court. In the years after that, there were months when she barely saw him.

He missed every birthday dinner and every parent conference.

When his assistant reminded him, he sent an expensive gift or transferred money to her account and considered the matter handled.

Tessa never complained. Even when the neglect hurt, she hid it so I would not feel worse.

“Dad worked because he helped people,” she used to tell me. “When I became an attorney, I’d join his firm and take some of the pressure off him.”

“Then he would have more time for you.”

She sacrificed sleep, friendships, and every ordinary pleasure to earn that Hartwell acceptance.

Once, after collapsing from exhaustion, the first thing she did when she woke was ask for her study

guide.

Hartwell. Law school.

Becoming an attorney as formidable as her father. That dream had shaped nearly every choice she made.

And what had Graham done with her devotion?

He had driven his own daughter to her death.

“You kept saying Tessa and I fabricated this because we were competing for your attention,” I said.

“Did you ever conduct a real investigation, or did you simply accept Sienna’s version and decide we were guilty?”

“You called yourself a defender of justice while strangers smeared your child, destroyed her future, and attached a lie to her name that she thought would never disappear.”

“You had no right to condemn Tessa or me. You didn’t deserve to be her father, and you didn’t

deserve to practice law.”

My chest heaved with every word. Grief made each breath feel like a blade.

Graham frowned, but uncertainty had begun to tremble in his eyes.

“I investigated,” he insisted. “There was no evidence at the scene.”

“I’m a lawyer. I don’t take anyone’s word on faith.

“I believe evidence.”

Fresh tears burned down my face. I shook my head.

“Where were you the night Tessa fell?”

He went still.

“You were with Sienna. Tessa called you more than a dozen times, and you ignored every call.”

“Sienna reached the school before the police and removed whatever evidence had been left there.

She told me herself.”

I stepped closer. “Think carefully about that night, Graham.’

“Could you look me in the eye and swear that you never suspected Sienna, not even for a second?”

He tried to answer, but the world went black before I heard a word.