Chapter 12 - What Reena Was Really Protecting
The mediation room did not look built for truth. It looked built for compromise: soft chairs, neutral walls, a box of tissues placed where anyone could reach it. Reena came in with her lawyer and sat without looking at Peter.
The court required one attempt at mediated discussion around visitation and placement. Peter agreed only because Marisol said sometimes people revealed themselves when they thought they still had options.
He slid copies of the pediatric note and the emergency-contact form across the table. Reena stared at them and went still.
“Aaron knew,” Peter said. “He was trying to get them out.”
She let out a breath through her nose. “Aaron knew Drew was difficult.”
“He knew you were locking a six-year-old in a room.”
“I was alone,” she snapped, finally looking at him. “He worked nights. Lily cried all the time. Drew would interfere with everything. You have no idea what that house was like.”
Peter leaned forward. “Then tell the truth.”
For a second something raw crossed her face—not innocence, not even remorse, but panic stripped of polish. “If Aaron had taken them,” she said, “he would’ve taken the house too. He changed the insurance. He was making me into the villain while I was the one holding everything together.”
There it was. Money. Control. Shame. The children had become leverage in a marriage she was losing. After Aaron died, they became the witnesses she needed to dominate.
“Drew protected Lily,” Peter said.
Reena’s mouth hardened. “Exactly.”
Peter understood then that she was not afraid because she had made one terrible decision under pressure. She was afraid because she still believed the children had forced her hand.
When the mediator asked whether she would admit harm and agree to suspended contact pending treatment, Reena stood up so fast her chair screeched.
“No,” she said. “And if that boy says otherwise, he’s been coached.”
May you like
She walked out.
The mediator looked at Peter over her notes and said quietly, “That will help your case.”
