y best somber expression, the one Sarah had coached me

my voice quiet.

at me with concern. "Of course, Ma

I took a deep breath. "It' s over,

I expected her face to crumple, to see tears,

e. Her eyes, which had been filled with worry a m

ed, her hand flying to h

if it were a winning lottery ticket. Then

I' ve been saving," she said, already

"Celebrate? Mom, I... I tho

er eyes. "Mark, honey. For fifteen years, I have watched that woman chip away at you. I

the table and too

u. She told me the gifts I bought for Ethan were cheap and not educational enough. She made me feel like an intruder in my own family. I stayed quiet for you, because I didn' t want to cause

It wasn' t just my prison. It was hers, too. We had both been serving the same sentenc

ight-year-old son, Ethan, came running o

elled, runnin

to tell him. I dreaded seeing the

have to tell you something. Your mom and I... we' re not going

ut Ethan just looked at m

asked. "She' s n

y. It' s f

fect echo of my mother' s. "Yes!" he wh

the reaction I had dreaded turned out

py about this?" I asked

ow away my LEGO Star Destroyer because she said the little pieces were messy. She made me practice the piano until my fingers hurt. When you were on

eartbreaking. He had been suffering, too, in his own quiet, eight

asses. She poured champagne for us and a

freedom," she said, her vo

ass of cider. "To

my face for the first time in what felt like a lifet