Chapter 25 - ILARIA AT TEN
By ten, Ilaria understood more about her trust.
Age-appropriate.
Not fourteen million dollars.
Not yet.
She knew:
Money existed for her medical and accessibility needs.
Trustee managed it.
I requested some expenses.
Independent people checked.
“Why?”
“So nobody uses it wrong.”
“Did Adrienne?”
“She tried to get paid for some things that should not have been billed.”
“Because Mom?”
“Partly because she was trying to make herself look like your primary caregiver.”
Ilaria frowned.
“She wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you know?”
There it was.
The question I had earned.
“I didn’t ask enough.”
She stared at me.
“Why?”
“I trusted her and I wanted the wedding to work.”
“You wanted wedding more?”
My chest tightened.
“For a while, I wanted things to be easy enough that I ignored signs you were uncomfortable.”
She thought.
“Like bad Dad?”
Children love efficient categorization.
“Like Dad making a mistake.”
“Big?”
“Yes.”
“Did you fix?”
“I’m still trying.”
She nodded.
Good.
May you like
No need to make myself hero.
Children can love parents who admit failure.
