Fated to My Cruel CEO novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Statement

The Lucas County courthouse has twenty-two steps and a flag that never hangs straight.

At ten on Sunday morning, I stood at the top of them with a sheet of paper and a microphone from a local station.

Three hundred and forty people filled the steps below me.

They had come in their work jackets and church clothes, without being asked.

Florence stood on my left.

On my right, close enough that his sleeve touched mine, stood Ansel.

He had said nothing since we left the apartment.

He did not need to.

The prosecutor, a tired woman in a navy coat, had already spoken.

She had read the fourteen counts against my father in a flat, clear voice.

Then she had turned to the question the cameras wanted.

"The county has reviewed the events of the night of the fire," she said.

"The county will not charge a nine-year-old for a fire she believed would only smoke. We will not file."

A sound ran down the steps.

"We will also be requesting that the record at the Lucas County juvenile center be reopened, and the adjudication of Ansel Dray reviewed."

She looked at him.

"That is the least the county can do."

Ansel's face did not move.

I felt his hand close around my wrist, once, hard, and let go.

Then it was my turn.

I unfolded my paper.

My voice came out steadier than I expected.

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