“Did you not just see what happened out there?” She tried hard to keep the tremor shaking her hands from spreading throughout her body. “Those men are out there hunting him like an animal all because they think he did something he hasn’t even been charged with. As a judge, you should be interested in making sure his rights are protected.”

“His rights?” Her father’s posture straightened, bringing him to his full height so she had to look up to him. “What about the rights of that young girl?”

“I’m not saying he’s innocent,” she said. “But doesn’t he deserve not to be judged simply because his mind isn’t like everyone else’s? Or will he be forced to live a lie and take the fall for a crime he didn’t commit so you can win your election?”

“Lane.” A shade of red painted her father’s face. He pressed his lips together. “You have no idea what you’re doing or what you’ve done.”

“Don’t I? You think a second doesn’t go by when I don’t think about what I’ve done?”

“Well, this is great. Senate hopeful’s daughter advocates for suspected murderer.” Mr. Adams removed his glasses and slumped down into the couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “The press is going to eat this up.”

“They can’t access her medical files and Mathias’s death was an accident,” her father said, wiping a palm over his forehead.

Lane clenched her teeth. They were talking about her like she wasn’t even standing there. “It’s good they know the truth. I’m so sick of the lies. My whole life I’ve been pretending like I’m everyone else’s version of normal. But how’s anyone supposed to get help if they can’t be honest about what they’re facing?”

“You don’t have to do this, Lane.” A pained expression stretched across Charlie’s face.

“No, I do.” She looked at the disbelief in her father’s face and felt her heart breaking. No matter what he believed, she knew that hiding in the shadows of lies to avoid the truth was hurting her more than the speculation of others. Fear of being defined by her depression and anxiety kept her from getting the help she needed. “I struggle every day, wondering if life’s worth living. If I have a reason to keep breathing. Or if that night it should’ve been me. If everyone would’ve been better off if it had been me.”

Lane couldn’t be sure, but she thought her father flinched. The hard look in his eyes softened. He started to open his mouth to say something, but a knock at the door stopped him.

Sheriff Huggins stepped inside. “Everyone okay in here?”