“You murdered Mirelle,” I said. “You made my life a torment—you made me believe I was a killer! I’m going to take my son to live somewhere far, far away from you.”

“You are welcome to try,” he answered. “There’s no evidence of your being able to provide a stable home. In fact, there’s no evidence that you are stable. Let’s consider how this plays out in court before you make any rash decisions.”

“You killed Mirelle,” I repeated. “Don’t you have any remorse about that?”

“I didn’t kill anyone, Theo. I can prove that I wasn’t in Berlin that night.” He looked me in the eye, unflinching. “I suppose you met with Klaus on your little jaunt.”

“He admitted to hiring Mirelle, at your request.”

“How typical of him to foist the blame on me. Whatever he did to that woman, my hands are clean.”

I was in awe of his steely nerve. His crime had been uncovered, and he was still confident that he could wriggle off the hook. “I also spoke with the man Harris hired to help him kill Mirelle and stage the scene,” I said. “As soon as I heard Harris was involved, I knew what you’d done. Don’t embarrass yourself by denying it.”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have your children disappoint you again and again? Teddy’s too young for you to grasp this concept. When he’s a teenager, you might understand. Imagine bringing this beautiful boy into the world and then watching him destroy himself with drugs and bad company that encourages his worst impulses.”

It was clever of him to mention Teddy, because I’d rather die than allow my son to suffer the pain I had. I couldn’t imagine my son harming himself. But I also couldn’t envision how cruel you would have to be to create a straitjacket of guilt and force your child to live in it. That was inhuman, no matter the excuse.

“You thought you were going to control me by making me believe I’d killed a woman. What kind of man would do that to his son?”

“It was a lesson in consequences. You needed to understand the danger of what you were doing.”

“My entire adult life was based on a lie you constructed. Why did you do it?”

“It should’ve straightened you out,” my father said. “And it did, to a point. You stopped frequenting fetish clubs and using drugs. I thought there was hope for you when you joined the business and married Caroline. Sadly, I was wrong. Your feelings got all hurt, and you ran away again.”