Vivian’s exposé pushed Colin into the fire.
He tried to see my mother-in-law two days in a row.
On the third day, she let him in.
He sat down and spoke immediately. “Mom. Can you help me recover the complete records?”
She looked at him. “Recover them. For what?”
“To clear things up.”
“For yourself? Or for Elara?”
Colin paused. “Both.”
She nodded. “Oh.”
“Since you’re not sincere, you can leave.”
*****
Soon after, Vivian requested to see Colin.
I went too.
When Vivian walked in from the detention center, the victim act was gone.
She looked at Colin and her first words were an accusation.
“You’re pushing all the blame onto me just to win Elara back?”
Colin’s face was cold. “You selectively edited the chat logs to make me look like the mastermind. Weren’t you trying to clear yourself of blame?”
Vivian sneered. “Shouldn’t you take responsibility? How would I have gotten into your house if you hadn’t given me access? Would I have gone that far if you hadn’t told me to ‘find a way to get even’?”
“I never told you to do those things.”
“But you never stopped me either!”
She grew more agitated.
“I sent you her screenshots. You said don’t make it a big deal.”
“I told you she wasn’t good enough for you, and you said I was just being blunt.”
“I deliberately came between you two, and you never truly drew a line between us.”
“Colin — you made me believe that no matter how far I went, you’d end up on my side.”
Colin’s lips moved. He finally forced out one sentence.
“I didn’t think you’d go this far.”
Vivian laughed colder. “Because you never treated what she suffered as a big deal.”
The room went quiet for two seconds.
I sat to the side. Said nothing.
But I knew she was right.
What Colin cared about was never whether I’d break.
What he cared about was whether things would blow up, whether they would affect him, and whether they would destroy everything he thought he could still control.
Near the end, Vivian turned to me.
“Do you feel like you won?”
I looked at her. Didn’t flinch.
She smirked. “But even if you divorce him — will you ever trust anyone again?”
“Will you ever let anyone into your home? Into your life?”
She asked it bluntly.
Even the investigators frowned.
I just looked at her and spoke, word by word.
“Whether I trust anyone again is none of your business.”
“And don’t use Colin to lighten your share.”
“He’s wrong for his part.”
“You’re wrong for yours.”
“Nobody covers for anybody.”
Vivian stared at me. The defiance in her eyes sank, bit by bit.
*****
After the meeting, Colin caught up in the hallway.
This time, he didn’t ask for another chance. Didn’t ask for time.
He just spoke quietly.
“I know you won’t come back.”
“But don’t let what I did stop you from living.”
I didn’t answer.
My mother-in-law walked up beside me, glanced at him, then turned to me.
“What do you want for lunch?”
I blinked.
At a time like this — that’s what she asked.
But that simple, ordinary question finally eased the tension I’d been carrying all morning.
I said quietly, “Noodles.”
“Which place?”
“The one on the corner.”
“Okay.”
She nodded and led me out.