All Chapters of SHATTERED BY CHOICE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

26 Chapters

The Weight of Evidence

Anthony's POVI was in the middle of a conference call when my assistant knocked on the door. I held up one finger to tell her to wait, but she shook her head and mouthed the words, "It's important."I muted the call. "What is it?""Evelyn Cole is here. She says she needs to speak with you right now. She has a box with her and she looks... upset."I unmuted the call and told the clients I had an emergency. I would reschedule. Then I ended the call and stood up.Evelyn was in the waiting area outside my office, sitting in one of the leather chairs with a green metal box on her lap. She looked up when I came out, and her eyes were red like she had been crying or trying very hard not to."Come in," I said.She followed me into the office. I closed the door and turned to face her."What happened?"She set the box on my desk. "I went to my mother's house. I found this in the attic.""What is it?""Open it and see."I sat down and pulled the box toward me. The lock was already open. I lifte

Before the Meeting

Evelyn's POVI picked Luca up from school at three and took him for ice cream. He talked the whole way about a science project he was working on and how his friend Marcus had accidentally spilled glue all over the table and the teacher had not even gotten mad. I listened and nodded and tried to focus on his words instead of the meeting that was coming tonight."Mom, you're not listening."I looked at him. He was staring at me with his big brown eyes, the ones he got from Anthony, and his mouth was turned down in a small frown."I'm sorry, baby. I'm listening now.""You look worried.""I'm not worried.""Yes you are. You do that thing with your mouth when you're worried." He pointed at my face. "Right there. The corner goes down."I tried to smile. "I have a lot on my mind, that's all.""Is it about Dad?""Why would you think that?""Because you guys are divorced now and that's a big deal." He spooned ice crea

The Voice in the Dark

Anthony's POVThe boat dock was old and half-rotted, the kind of place the city had been meaning to fix for years but never got around to. The wood creaked under our feet as we walked out onto it, and the water below was black and still.There was no one here. Just Evelyn and me and the sound of the wind moving through the trees behind us."Maybe they're not coming," Evelyn said quietly."It's only five past ten. Give it a few more minutes."We stood at the end of the dock and waited. I kept my phone in my hand, ready to call for help if I needed to. Evelyn had her arms crossed tight against the cold.Then a voice came from behind us."I wasn't sure you'd actually show up."We both turned. A woman stepped out from the shadow of the trees, her hands in her pockets, her face partially hidden by the hood of her coat. She walked toward us slowly, her steps careful on the uneven ground.When she got close enough, she pulled

What the Recording Said

Evelyn's POVWe sat in Anthony's car in the parking lot and listened to the audio file three times. Mirabel's voice came through the speaker, slurred and thick with tears, but clear enough that there was no mistaking what she was saying."I didn't think it would hurt anyone this much. Samuel said it was just business. He said Anthony would get over Sylvia eventually and everything would work out. But I saw what it did to him. I saw what it did to you. And I've been carrying it ever since."Sylvia's voice came next, calm and cold. "You destroyed my relationship. You used your sister. And now you want forgiveness?""I don't know what I want. I just needed to tell someone. I needed someone to know I didn't mean for it to be this bad.""But it is this bad, Mirabel. And no amount of apologizing will fix it."The recording ended. I sat there staring at the phone in Anthony's hand, my sister's voice still ringing in my ears."She knew,

The Morning After Truth

Anthony's POVI didn't sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and replaying Mirabel's voice over and over in my head. By the time the sun came up, I had listened to the recording at least twenty times, and each time it made me angrier.At six in the morning I called my brother Reuben."Do you know what time it is?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep."I need you to do something for me.""Anthony, it's six in the morning.""I know. And I need you to listen." I sat up and swung my legs out of bed. "I'm sending you an audio file. I need you to listen to it and tell me if it can be used in court."There was rustling on the other end, like he was sitting up too. "In court? What are you talking about?""Just listen to it. Please. And then call me back."I sent the file and hung up. Then I got dressed and made coffee I didn't want. My phone rang fifteen minutes later."Where did you get this?" Reuben's voice was sh

The sister I Thought I Knew

Evelyn's POVI went to see my mother at the hospital that morning like I promised Francis I would. She was sitting up in bed, looking stronger than she had the day before, and when I walked in she smiled."Evelyn. I was hoping you'd come.""Francis said you wanted to talk.""I do." She patted the bed beside her. "Sit."I sat, keeping a little distance between us. I didn't know how much she knew, how much she had guessed, or whether she had any idea I had found the lockbox in her attic."I've been thinking a lot since the accident," she said. "About the things I've kept quiet about. The things I should have said years ago.""Like what?""Like the truth about Mirabel and what she did." She reached for my hand. "I know you found the file, Evelyn. I know you took it from the attic."My breath caught. "How do you know that?""Because I put a note in the box asking whoever found it to come talk to me first." She looked

Face to Face With the Enemy

Evelyn's POVMirabel was already at the coffee shop when I arrived. She sat in the back corner, her hands wrapped around a cup she hadn't touched, her eyes red like she had been crying. When she saw me, she stood up halfway, then sat back down like she didn't know what the right thing to do was.I walked over and sat across from her without saying hello."Thank you for coming," she said quietly.I didn't respond. I just looked at her and waited.She took a breath. "I know you hate me right now. I know you think I'm the worst person in the world. And maybe I am. But I need you to understand that I never meant for things to go the way they did.""You set up Anthony. You paid someone to make sure Sylvia saw him with me. You destroyed their relationship on purpose." My voice was flat. "What part of that wasn't intentional?""The part where you got hurt." Her eyes filled with tears. "I thought you'd be fine. I thought Anthony would b

The Lines We Draw

Anthony's POVEvelyn came to my office an hour later looking like she hadn't slept in days. She sat in the chair across from my desk and stared at the floor."Did you eat anything today?" I asked."No.""You should eat.""I'm not hungry."I let it go. There were more important things to talk about than food."I spoke to Reuben this morning," I said. "He thinks the recording is usable in court, but only if we can prove Sylvia consented to being recorded. Otherwise it might get thrown out.""And can we prove that?""Sylvia would have to testify that she knew she was being recorded. Which means she'd have to get involved publicly.""Do you think she would?""I don't know. I haven't asked her yet."Evelyn looked up. "Have you talked to your father again?""No. I said what I needed to say this morning. Now it's his turn to decide what he's going to do." I leaned back in my chair. "What about you? Are you

The Woman I Used to Love

Anthony's POVSylvia answered the door herself. She looked different in the soft light of her mother's house, smaller somehow, more human. She stepped aside to let me in."Mom's at the hospital with a friend. We have the house to ourselves."I followed her into the sitting room. It was the same room where I had sat years ago, nervous and young, asking her father for permission to date her. That version of me felt like a stranger now."Do you want tea or anything?" she asked."No. I'm fine."She sat on the couch and I sat in the chair across from her. For a moment neither of us spoke. The silence was heavy with eight years of things we had never said."I heard you met with Evelyn," she said finally."How did you know that?""She texted me. She wanted to know if I would be willing to testify if this goes to court.""And will you?""I don't know yet. That's why I wanted to talk to you." She tucked her hair behin

Mending Broken Fences

The room felt smaller with just the two of us in it. Anthony leaned against the desk and I stood by the door, neither of us ready to speak first."What are you thinking?" he asked finally."I'm thinking about Luca. About what kind of people we want to be for him.""And?""And I don't want him to grow up watching us destroy our families for revenge." I crossed my arms. "But I also don't want him to think that people can hurt others without consequences."Anthony nodded slowly. "So we're stuck.""Maybe. Or maybe there's a middle ground." I walked closer. "What if we don't go public? What if we keep the evidence but use it privately?""How?""We make them fix what they broke. We make Mirabel and Samuel and your father do something real to make up for what they did. Not just apologize. Actually fix things."He was quiet, considering it. "Like what?""I don't know yet. But there has to be something. Some way they can take re

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