Chapter 12 - What Cindy Wanted
Why?
Everyone kept asking.
Money explained some.
Control explained more.
But Garrett needed Cindy to say it.
She finally agreed to mediation.
Not criminal.
Civil.
Garrett attended only because his testimony mattered.
Sally sat with counsel.
Cindy across.
Older than Garrett remembered.
Still upright.
Still certain.
Sally asked:
“Why me?”
Cindy said:
“You made Garrett miserable.”
Garrett interrupted.
“No.”
Cindy looked at him.
“You used to come home angry because she corrected you.”
“I complained.”
“Exactly.”
“That didn’t mean I wanted her gone.”
“You never defended her.”
That landed.
Then Cindy turned to Sally.
“You acted like you were running everything.”
“I was doing most of the saving.”
“You made more money and made sure everyone knew.”
“I never…”
Garrett spoke:
“She didn’t.”
Cindy stared at her son.
He continued.
“I told you she made more because I was jealous.”
Silence.
“I told you managers called her first because it bothered me.”
Cindy’s eyes shifted.
“I gave you every piece you used against her.”
Sally looked at Garrett.
He continued:
“You didn’t invent my insecurity. You weaponized it.”
Cindy’s mouth tightened.
Then Sally asked:
“Why the money?”
Cindy answered:
“Because that account would have bought a house in her name.”
“No.”
“That’s what she wanted.”
“We wanted a house together.”
“You would have controlled it.”
Sally almost laughed.
“So you stole the down payment to stop me from controlling property?”
Cindy heard contradiction.
Then:
“You don’t understand what it is to watch your son become second place in his own marriage.”
Sally replied:
“A marriage is not a ranking system.”
That was the line Cindy could never accept.
She believed Garrett should be central because he was husband.
Sally’s success felt like displacement.
Then pregnancy.
Why hide?
Cindy looked at Garrett.
“If you knew about the baby, you would have taken her back.”
Probably.
Garrett whispered:
“Yes.”
“So I protected you from making another mistake.”
That was it.
Cindy did not see Lily first.
She saw Sally returning.
A child as leverage.
So she removed information.
Then Garrett asked:
“Did you ever care that Lily grew up without me?”
Cindy’s eyes filled.
“I thought Sally would eventually move on.”
“That is not an answer.”
Cindy looked down.
“No.”
No.
She did not care enough.
Then mediation ended without settlement.
Sally wanted accountability.
Cindy still wanted justification.
Court would decide money.
May you like
And prosecutors had just made a decision.
Cindy would be charged for later identity fraud and financial theft conduct that remained prosecutable.
