I laughed sadly.
“Apparently I financed strategy meetings.”
He looked ashamed.
“I made it too easy for you to believe consequences were things other people absorbed.”
“That is my responsibility.”
“Your violence is yours.”
“Your fraud is yours.”
Both.
He whispered:
“Do you hate me?”
“No.”
His face changed.
“I love you.”
He cried harder.
Then I said:
“And I will never again use love to protect you from what you choose.”
That was our last conversation before court.
Kristen eventually accepted a negotiated resolution after the evidence became overwhelming.
Martin did too.
Trevor entered separate pleas covering his role in the financial scheme and assault.
The exact sentences mattered less to me than the conditions.
Restitution.
No-contact periods.
Financial restrictions.
Mandatory intervention programs for Trevor.
Professional consequences.
Martin permanently lost authority over company accounts and surrendered his remaining partnership interests.
I bought them for a nominal value after offsetting restitution.
