Chapter 34: The Price of Peace
Three days had passed since the verdict echoed through the country—three long, heavy days where headlines dissected every detail and op-eds debated justice, feminism, and the fall of a matriarch.
And then, without fanfare, Victoria George’s apology aired.
The video was less than two minutes long. She sat alone in a pale, sterile room—no flags behind her, no warm lighting, no reporters present to ask questions. Just her, a prepared statement, and the unmistakable hollowness of a woman who had been told what to say and when to say it.
“I, Victoria George, accept full responsibility for the role I played in defaming and causing emotional harm to Sophia Grant...”
Her tone was flat. The words, though carefully chosen, carried no soul.
Sophia didn’t watch it live. She didn’t need to.
She had heard Victoria’s real voice once before—the voice that told someone to “use the child” and “break her.”
She didn’t need a manufactured confession.
Instead, she spent the a
