Margaret’s Apology
Chapter 12 - Margaret’s Apology
Margaret asked to meet Leah privately.
They chose Connor’s empty hangar rather than either family home.
The medal frame rested on a workbench after federal technicians returned it. The hidden compartment remained visible.
Margaret began with the sentence Leah had waited three years to hear.
“I was wrong.”
Then she made it harder.
She admitted believing Adrian because his explanation preserved both sons: Connor as hero, Adrian as grieving brother. Leah’s account required Margaret to consider that one child had sacrificed the other.
“I used you as the place where the story could remain clean.”
Leah looked at the aircraft floor.
Margaret apologized for asking why she survived.
“I have asked myself the same question every day.”
“That did not give me the right to turn it into an accusation.”
Leah did not forgive her immediately.
She said public statements mattered because the public accusation had damaged her career. Private regret alone could not correct institutional records.
Margaret agreed.
She testified before Congress, described the manipulated reports and acknowledged her conflict of interest. She requested review of every contract she supported involving Aegis.
Political allies called the testimony self-destruction.
Margaret called it an accurate record.
Her relationship with Leah resumed slowly.
Some holidays remained separate.
Some conversations ended early.
Repair was not restoration of the family before Night Lantern.
May you like
That family had contained the conditions Adrian exploited.
They needed something more honest than returning.
