did not possess.
The outside review found that Charles had used his company position for
several undisclosed personal expenses and had violated internal
policies.
He was terminated.
The company pursued appropriate recovery of certain amounts.
Again, there was no magical clause handing me his salary or property.
There was documentation.
Process.
Accountability.
Mom would have approved of that.
PART 18 — THE PLEA
More than a year after the porch, Charles changed his plea under an
agreement resolving the document-related criminal case.
The exact charges and sentence reflected the evidence prosecutors
believed they could prove.
He acknowledged participating in the submission of a document bearing a
signature I had not authorized for the attempted transaction.
The court imposed penalties that included supervision, financial
consequences, and restrictions required by the judgment.
I gave a victim-impact statement.
I did not talk about money first.
I talked about the porch.
About being eight months pregnant.
About protecting my stomach while he dragged me.
About hearing Courtney laugh.
About giving birth early and wondering whether stress or trauma had
contributed, while knowing no doctor could reduce a complicated preterm
birth to one simple cause.
Then I said:
“You treated my mother’s death like an opportunity and my pregnancy like
