He said nothing.
I nodded.
The final piece had fallen into place.
I took my phone from my pocket.
Godfrey looked at it.
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this.”
I pressed a button.
The room filled with voices.
Their voices.
Everything they had said in the backyard.
Every accusation against Phedra.
Every admission about the money.
Every conversation from the last three days.
Recorded.
Godfrey’s face turned white.
“You recorded us?”
“Yes.”
My mother sank into the chair.
“Damian…”
“I didn’t come home to destroy my family.”
I looked at both of them.
“I came home to save my wife.”
Then I placed another folder on the table.
“The police already have copies.”
Godfrey’s mouth opened.
“What?”
“My lawyer also has the financial records.”
Selina started shaking.
“Please.”
I looked at her.
For a moment, I saw my mother.
The woman who raised me.
The woman who held me when I was sick.
The woman I had trusted enough to send nearly one hundred thousand dollars to.
Then I remembered Phedra picking broken glass from the dirt with her bare hands.
I remembered the empty plate.
The shed.
The shaved head.
The words:
“I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
My heart hardened.
“I gave you trust.”
I pointed toward the house.
“You turned it into greed.”
I pointed toward the door.
“You turned my wife into a servant.”
Then I looked at Godfrey.
“And you turned my sacrifice into your business.”
Nobody answered.
I picked up my suitcase.
This time, I wasn’t leaving the house because I had to go back to Canada.
I was leaving because it no longer belonged to the people I thought lived there.
Three months later, Phedra completed another round of treatment.
She was still weak.
Her hair had not grown back yet.
But she smiled more.
She ate regularly.
She slept in a real bed.
And she no longer apologized whenever she asked for something.
That was the biggest change.
One afternoon, we sat together outside our new apartment.
Phedra touched her bare head.
“I look strange.”
I smiled.
“You look beautiful.”
She laughed.
“You’ve always been terrible at lying.”
“I’ve never lied about that.”
She leaned against my shoulder.
“Did you ever regret coming home?”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“What happened to them?”
