Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF HOPETreatment was ugly.
That was the word Clara used privately.
Ugly.
Fevers.
Vomiting.
Weakness.
Confusion.
Blood tests.
Long nights.
Moments when Jonah begged them to stop.
Moments when Blythe said:
“I don't want to be brave.”
Clara answered:
“Good.”
Blythe stared.
“You don't have to be brave every minute.”
Adults loved brave children because courage comforted adults.
Clara had learned that with Mara.
Sometimes children needed permission to hate everything.
Lawson struggled.
He wanted to fix.
He offered toys.
Trips.
Promises.
Jonah became angry.
“I don't want a car.”
“You don't drive.”
“I know!”
Clara pulled Lawson outside.
“Stop buying emotions.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re overwhelming him.”
“What do I do?”
“Sit.”
“That can't be everything.”
“It is sometimes.”
Lawson hated simple instructions.
He did them anyway.
Meanwhile, Crosby’s organization began collapsing under subpoenas and financial pressure.
Prescott worked with attorneys.
Lawson surrendered information.
Old crimes.
Current networks.
The cost became clear.
If he cooperated fully, he could lose businesses.
Territory.
People.
Possibly his freedom.
Prescott asked:
“How far are you going?”
Lawson looked through the window at Jonah sleeping.
“Far enough.”
“You could be charged.”
“I know.”
“Prison?”
“Possibly.”
“Your children need you.”
That was the cruelest argument.
Lawson stared.
“So I continue the system that keeps making them targets?”
Prescott said nothing.
Lawson had spent decades telling himself everything illegal protected the family.
Now family required dismantling it.
That irony almost destroyed him.
Clara learned part of it.
“You're cooperating?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Crosby is not the only problem.”
She understood.
“You.”
“Yes.”
The honesty frightened her.
“What happens?”
“I don't know.”
Clara looked at him.
May you like
For once, Lawson Mercer had no plan capable of guaranteeing control.
Maybe that was the beginning.
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