{"id":876,"date":"2026-10-04T10:41:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T10:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=876"},"modified":"2026-10-04T10:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T10:41:37","slug":"part-22-weeks-after-the-championship-the-investigation-stripped-away-nathans-influence-while-my-sons-began-testing-whether-his-new-restraint-would-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=876","title":{"rendered":"PART 22 \u2013 Weeks After the Championship, the Investigation Stripped Away Nathan\u2019s Influence While My Sons Began Testing Whether His New Restraint Would Last"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first week after the championship was louder than the day itself.<\/p>\n<p>News outlets discovered the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Parents created message boards.<\/p>\n<p>Crowe Preparatory issued three statements in four days.<\/p>\n<p>The State Academic Authority announced an independent review of five years of competition results, scholarship practices, donor influence, and internal access controls.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s name appeared everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Mine did not at first.<\/p>\n<p>That was intentional.<\/p>\n<p>Because I had disclosed the marriage and recused, the new investigative team released a short statement confirming that no final decision would involve me.<\/p>\n<p>That did not stop speculation.<\/p>\n<p>By Wednesday, an education blog identified me as Nathan Crowe\u2019s former wife.<\/p>\n<p>By Thursday, reporters were outside the university where I taught.<\/p>\n<p>By Friday, someone dug up a photograph from our wedding.<\/p>\n<p>I hated that one most.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan and I were twenty-nine.<\/p>\n<p>He was laughing.<\/p>\n<p>I was looking at him rather than the camera.<\/p>\n<p>The photograph made us seem impossible to become the people in the headlines.<\/p>\n<p>Eli saw it online.<\/p>\n<p>He showed me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou looked happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He studied my face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer bothered him.<\/p>\n<p>It bothered me too.<\/p>\n<p>People wanted clean stories.<\/p>\n<p>Good spouse.<\/p>\n<p>Bad spouse.<\/p>\n<p>Abandoned family.<\/p>\n<p>Replacement family.<\/p>\n<p>Corrupt father.<\/p>\n<p>Triumphant sons.<\/p>\n<p>Real life resisted the arrangement.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan had loved us.<\/p>\n<p>Then failed us.<\/p>\n<p>Loved Preston.<\/p>\n<p>Then harmed him through the very ambition he called devotion.<\/p>\n<p>Helped Eli and Ethan secretly.<\/p>\n<p>Sabotaged me secretly.<\/p>\n<p>Two opposite actions from the same need to control what happened next.<\/p>\n<p>Three days after the championship, Preston created the group chat.<\/p>\n<p>Genetic Complications.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan immediately changed the icon to a microscope image of chromosomes.<\/p>\n<p>Eli threatened to leave.<\/p>\n<p>Preston added:<\/p>\n<p>Too late. Blood contract.<\/p>\n<p>Eli replied:<\/p>\n<p>That is not how genetics works.<\/p>\n<p>The chat continued anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Mostly nonsense.<\/p>\n<p>Memes.<\/p>\n<p>Complaints about homework.<\/p>\n<p>Arguments over whether pineapple belonged on pizza.<\/p>\n<p>Preston asked Ethan for help with a proof.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan sent back seventeen messages and a photograph of handwritten work.<\/p>\n<p>Preston replied:<\/p>\n<p>I regret asking.<\/p>\n<p>Eli wrote:<\/p>\n<p>Everyone does.<\/p>\n<p>I watched the relationship form without participating.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan did too, from the outside.<\/p>\n<p>He kept his promise.<\/p>\n<p>No messages to the twins.<\/p>\n<p>No surprise visits.<\/p>\n<p>No letters delivered through attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>That silence felt different from the old one.<\/p>\n<p>The first had been abandonment.<\/p>\n<p>This one was a boundary.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Ethan noticed.<\/p>\n<p>On the eighth day he asked, \u201cDo you think he\u2019s waiting for us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause now if I don\u2019t contact him, it feels like I\u2019m choosing something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He glared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood.<\/p>\n<p>Choice carries responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>When Nathan stayed away without permission, the boys could blame him.<\/p>\n<p>Now he had finally placed the next step in their hands.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom can feel cruel when someone has spent years making decisions for you.<\/p>\n<p>Eli handled it differently.<\/p>\n<p>He asked for the letters.<\/p>\n<p>All of them.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators had released the envelopes after confirming they were irrelevant to the academic case.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s attorney delivered them in a sealed archive box.<\/p>\n<p>No note.<\/p>\n<p>No message.<\/p>\n<p>Just the box.<\/p>\n<p>Eli opened it at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan refused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not reading mine yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re going to read all yours?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eli nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTonight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to tell him not to.<\/p>\n<p>Too much.<\/p>\n<p>Too fast.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I asked, \u201cWant company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer hurt.<\/p>\n<p>I let him have it.<\/p>\n<p>He read upstairs for three hours.<\/p>\n<p>At eleven, I found him sitting on the floor beside his bed.<\/p>\n<p>Envelopes surrounded him.<\/p>\n<p>Some opened.<\/p>\n<p>Some untouched.<\/p>\n<p>He was crying silently.<\/p>\n<p>I sat in the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>He looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe remembered my braces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn one letter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He lifted a page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe saw a school picture online and wrote that he was sorry he missed the day I complained for six hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou complained longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He laughed through tears.<\/p>\n<p>Then his face broke again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I moved closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he knew nothing, maybe I could tell myself he forgot us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat beside him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe watched.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe cared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd still didn\u2019t come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Eli stared at the paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you forgive that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean how does anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould I what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForgive him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he was my husband. He is your father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hurt you too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you don\u2019t hate him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eli folded the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does forgiveness even mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I considered the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes it means you stop demanding that the past become different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds sad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes it mean letting someone back?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrusting them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTalking to them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot necessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what changes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked unconvinced.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stop organizing your life around the injury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eli stared at the letters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like a very long process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Then handed me one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter was dated four years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan had written after Eli placed at a national engineering invitational.<\/p>\n<p>I read.<\/p>\n<p>No manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>No references to money.<\/p>\n<p>No excuses.<\/p>\n<p>Just pride and shame.<\/p>\n<p>At the end:<\/p>\n<p>I keep thinking I will become the kind of man who has the courage to knock on your door. I am beginning to understand courage does not arrive before the action. It arrives because you finally act. I wish I had learned that before you grew up without me.<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew,\u201d Eli whispered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd still didn\u2019t act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was Nathan\u2019s tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>Awareness had never been his problem.<\/p>\n<p>Action without control was.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks after the championship, Crowe Preparatory announced Richard Bell\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n<p>The trustees confirmed that donor influence had compromised administrative decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Several scholarship applicants were contacted for independent re-review.<\/p>\n<p>Families whose applications had been flagged in Nathan\u2019s files received formal notifications.<\/p>\n<p>Some were furious.<\/p>\n<p>Some threatened lawsuits.<\/p>\n<p>One mother went on television and described her daughter losing a scholarship after she criticized the school\u2019s expansion project.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s notes matched the timeline.<\/p>\n<p>The academic scandal widened.<\/p>\n<p>Meridian Crown Systems placed Nathan on temporary leave as chief executive while its board conducted an internal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>He remained the largest shareholder.<\/p>\n<p>But for the first time since founding the company, he did not control daily operations.<\/p>\n<p>Celeste filed for legal separation.<\/p>\n<p>Preston told the twins in the group chat.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan did not know what to say.<\/p>\n<p>He sent:<\/p>\n<p>Sorry. That sucks.<\/p>\n<p>Preston replied:<\/p>\n<p>Pretty much.<\/p>\n<p>Then, ten minutes later:<\/p>\n<p>Mom says therapy is not optional.<\/p>\n<p>Eli:<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>Preston:<\/p>\n<p>Traitor.<\/p>\n<p>The student-award review concluded in stages.<\/p>\n<p>Eli\u2019s engineering title stood.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s mathematics title stood.<\/p>\n<p>Their academic bowl title stood.<\/p>\n<p>The emergency final was unquestionably secure.<\/p>\n<p>Preston\u2019s debate final victory stood too.<\/p>\n<p>Officials determined his final round had been conducted with a prompt created after the scandal surfaced and under independent controls.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier debate placements from qualifying rounds remained flagged.<\/p>\n<p>His science placement was voided because the preparation packet contained material too closely aligned with protected framework information.<\/p>\n<p>When Preston received the decision, he called Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>Not me.<\/p>\n<p>I overheard only Ethan\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you still beat me in debate practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was one time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine, twice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want to come over Saturday?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned away before he noticed me listening.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday arrived with rain.<\/p>\n<p>Preston came to our house for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Celeste dropped him off.<\/p>\n<p>She stood on the porch awkwardly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to come in,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked toward the car.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor not treating him like Nathan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe isn\u2019t Nathan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI should have understood that about your sons years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>She continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Nathan told me relinquishing visitation was best, I wanted to believe him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer came without defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was twenty-seven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo was I once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rain tapped against the porch roof.<\/p>\n<p>Celeste swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told myself you were difficult. Jealous. Angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the first direct apology she had given me.<\/p>\n<p>I did not say it was okay.<\/p>\n<p>It had not been.<\/p>\n<p>Instead I said, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was enough.<\/p>\n<p>Preston spent six hours with the twins.<\/p>\n<p>They played video games.<\/p>\n<p>Argued about physics.<\/p>\n<p>Burned frozen pizza.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan accused Preston of having terrible taste in music.<\/p>\n<p>Eli discovered Preston was better at chess than both of them.<\/p>\n<p>At some point I heard laughter loud enough to reach the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>I stood at the counter and listened.<\/p>\n<p>Three boys.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody competing.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody ranked.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody preparing to beat anyone.<\/p>\n<p>Just brothers becoming something they had not known they were allowed to have.<\/p>\n<p>Near evening, the doorbell rang.<\/p>\n<p>I assumed Celeste had arrived early.<\/p>\n<p>It was Nathan.<\/p>\n<p>He stood on the porch.<\/p>\n<p>No suit.<\/p>\n<p>Jeans.<\/p>\n<p>Dark coat.<\/p>\n<p>Hands empty.<\/p>\n<p>My body went rigid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said you wouldn\u2019t come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not asking to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreston is inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward the driveway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCeleste told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t answer me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan breathed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was driving nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like the old version of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to see the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My anger sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou already knew the address.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTry again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to know what it felt like to come here without hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>He stood in the rain beyond the porch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward the front window.<\/p>\n<p>The boys\u2019 laughter drifted through the glass.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre they okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll three?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Then he turned to leave.<\/p>\n<p>I surprised myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNathan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEthan hasn\u2019t read the rest of his letters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hasn\u2019t contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI assumed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEli read his.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan went completely still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan nodded.<\/p>\n<p>He did not ask me to carry a message.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>He stepped into the rain.<\/p>\n<p>Then the front door opened behind me.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He saw Nathan.<\/p>\n<p>Everything stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan did not move closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made a bad decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer surprised both of us.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came without being invited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>I stayed silent.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan said, \u201cI\u2019m leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stepped onto the porch.<\/p>\n<p>Rain blew against the steps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you come because Preston is here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan waited.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan crossed his arms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you going to spy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you tell me if yes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably not in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan considered that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan looked toward the rain.<\/p>\n<p>Then back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI read the age-ten letter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan closed his mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not ready to read the others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI might never be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I don\u2019t want money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou agree too much now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying not to decide for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s unsettling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan actually laughed.<\/p>\n<p>A short sound.<\/p>\n<p>Then Ethan said, \u201cYou can text me once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat should I say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not my problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A smile appeared on Nathan\u2019s face before he could control it.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan saw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not make this weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou already are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>I gave him nothing.<\/p>\n<p>This belonged to them.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan opened the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBye.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan\u2019s voice was rough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBye.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan went inside.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan remained in the rain.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t waste it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t a promise you make to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then he walked away.<\/p>\n<p>Later that night, Ethan\u2019s phone buzzed.<\/p>\n<p>He showed me the screen.<\/p>\n<p>One message.<\/p>\n<p>Hi, Ethan. Thank you for letting me text. I don\u2019t expect a reply. I\u2019m proud of you, but more importantly, I\u2019m sorry I chose fear over being your father.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan read it twice.<\/p>\n<p>Then typed.<\/p>\n<p>I watched from across the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>He erased his first reply.<\/p>\n<p>Typed another.<\/p>\n<p>Erased that too.<\/p>\n<p>Finally he sent two words.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Night.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan answered only:<\/p>\n<p>Good night.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan set the phone down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat felt terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd maybe not terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Both could be true.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=877\">Click here to continue reading: PART 23: As Nathan Faced the First Formal Consequences of the Scandal, Eli Asked for a Meeting With One Condition His Father Couldn\u2019t Control<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first week after the championship was louder than the day itself. News outlets discovered the investigation. Parents created message boards. Crowe Preparatory issued three statements in four days. 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