Secrets & Submission

“I agree with that,” Damon says. “It’s the son of one of the men in the video. Everything would be a lot less complicated if none of those guys had ever existed.”

Cade muses out loud, “Are we certain she should attend? I understand it’s best for the alibi and a public confrontation. But she doesn’t have to be there.”

All eyes are on me.

I sit in silence for a few more beats, thinking. “She’s going and I’ll tell her about the party. That will make her happy,” I tell the guys. “It will add more substance to our report for the judge and I’m sure Damon would feel more confident in his assessment if she does as well as he thinks she will in a public setting with press and social pressure.”

“It’s not about making her happy,” Cade says. “But—”

I cut him off. “It’s about protecting her. I’m very fucking aware of that.”

What Cade might not be able to understand, is that keeping Ella happy is part of protecting her. Of course her physical safety is always going to be a top priority for me.

But physical safety isn’t the be-all and end-all. Her heart needs happiness, too, and letting her know about this party will give her a spark of joy. After all she’s been through, she deserves it.

A life without happiness isn’t a life at all.

“We’re all going to go to that event and put an end to this.” It’s the beginning of the end for so many things for Ella.