Chapter 3 - THE LIBRARY
Ryan admitted going to the library.
Not immediately.
Claire’s attorney arranged a structured meeting with Ryan and Uncle Mark present.
Claire did not want another confrontation in the house.
“Why did you lie about school?”
Ryan stared at the table.
“Because you’d freak out.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You already had Emma.”
Claire went still.
“What does that mean?”
“Everything was Emma. Surgery. Doctors. School from home. Special food. Don’t make noise. Don’t stress Emma.”
Claire heard resentment.
Real resentment.
Not justification.
Ryan continued.
“I knew if you found out I got suspended, you’d act like I ruined the family.”
“Did I ever say that?”
“No.”
“Then why believe it?”
He shrugged angrily.
Because for six weeks the house had revolved around recovery.
Claire had missed two of Ryan’s soccer games.
Forgot a parent meeting.
Canceled a planned driving lesson.
She had apologized.
He had said:
“It’s fine.”
It had not been fine.
Still, Claire asked:
“What happened with the fundraiser?”
Ryan’s face changed.
“It’s not what they think.”
“What do they think?”
“That I stole money.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Ryan insisted:
“I was fixing a problem.”
“What problem?”
“A student couldn’t access the normal page.”
“Which student?”
He hesitated.
“Tyler.”
Claire knew Tyler Hayes only by name.
Ryan’s teammate.
The student Ryan had been accused of harassing.
“That makes no sense.”
Ryan rubbed his hands together.
“Tyler set up a second link for cashless sales. I copied it into the page because the school one was crashing.”
“Why was the money redirected?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why were you trying to get back into the portal?”
“To prove I didn’t do it.”
Claire sat back.
There it was.
Ryan had used Emma’s tablet not just to hide suspension.
He was trying to investigate his own case.
Wrongly.
Secretly.
Then Mark asked:
“Why attack Emma?”
Ryan’s eyes filled.
“She saw the suspension notice.”
“That is not why you hit her.”
Ryan looked down.
“She said she was going to tell Mom.”
Claire felt something inside her break quietly.
Ryan had not attacked because the tablet caused the problem.
He attacked because Emma threatened the secrecy.
Then Ryan said:
“There’s something else on that tablet.”
Claire looked up.
“What?”
“A chat backup.”
“What chat?”
Ryan swallowed.
“The one that got me suspended.”
May you like
And he said the last thing Claire expected.
“Tyler wasn’t the person I was bullying.”
