But then she said in a rush, “What if I told you the police reports lied. That my dad lied. That I had no idea that he planted that camera in my school jacket, and I was just as surprised by the raid as you.”

She let out a shuddering breath, her eyes still closed. “What if I told you my dad said all the things that he said in his report to protect me because he didn’t want me to go down with you. And I went along with it because I was only eighteen. And you were gone, and my dad was telling me all these horrible things, and…”

She finally opened her eyes and turned to look at him again. “And I didn’t know what to do. So I went along with it. I’m sorry, Victor. I didn’t want to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you. I loved you so much, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I did that. And I’m sorry your father died.”

She twisted her hands in her lap. “These last few weeks, they’ve been so… I don’t know, like everything I dreamed of when we were young, stupid kids. And I probably should let this go. We’re done on May 25th anyway. But I had to try. I had to try to tell you the truth.”

He stared at her. The woman who used to be the girl who broke his heart. He stared at her as all the planes crashed inside his head. He froze on the outside, but everything inside of him was crashing and burning.

Silence once again filled up the car. But this utter silence was much noisier than any of the other ones that came before it. Her words echoed, even louder than the bittersweet breakup song she’d blasted earlier in the ride.

Victor sat there for a very long time, not trusting himself. Especially to drive.

But he was Victor Zhang. The dragonhead his father had groomed. A man who knew not to show weakness, even when planes were blowing up in his sky.

Eventually, he calmed and put the car back in gear. A few minutes later, he pulled up to the outside of the house and signed, “Don’t forget your tote bag.”

She sniffled, even though her eyes were no longer filled with tears. “You’re not coming in?”

“Don’t forget your tote bag,” he repeated.

Another hesitation, but in the end, she climbed out. He heard the click of the back door opening, then closing again. And that was it. He was free to leave.

He watched her watch him go through the rearview mirror. She stood there with her cutesy tote as he drove away. Getting smaller and smaller until it was time for him to turn a corner.