For one terrible second, we simply stared at each other.
Then he ran.
I caught him in my arms so hard that we nearly stumbled backward.
“Mom.”
His voice cracked.
“Oh, baby.”
“I’m sorry.”
I pulled away just enough to see his face.
“No. No, you don’t apologize to me.”
“I said those things in court.”
“I know.”
“I told the judge you couldn’t give me the future I needed.”
Tears ran down his cheeks.
“Dad said if I chose you, he’d destroy Grandpa’s company. He said you’d lose the house, and you’d end up with nothing. He said he would make sure you never saw me again.”
My heart broke all over again.
“Tyler, you should never have had to carry that.”
“I thought if I went with him, I could find the evidence. I thought I could stop him before he took everything.”
