Chapter 23 - The civil suit against the city and the building management settled out of court.
My lawyer called me on a Wednesday. The number was substantial. Enough to ensure Clara’s college tuition. Enough to pay off my mortgage.
"The city wants to avoid trial at all costs," the lawyer said. "They don't want the dispatch logs played for a jury."
"I'll take the settlement," I said.
I didn't want a trial either. I didn't want to sit in a courtroom and be cross-examined about the worst day of my life.
I signed the papers the next day.
When the money hit my account, I didn't feel triumphant. I just felt finalized.
I took a portion of it and anonymously donated it to Tyler’s university, specifically to the pre-med scholarship fund.
I took another portion and bought Clara a massive swing set for the small yard behind my apartment.
The rest went into a trust.
The city paid for their negligence. But no amount of money could buy back the innocence of the woman who had stepped into that elevator.
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She was gone.
But the woman who replaced her was richer, stronger, and fundamentally unbroken.
