Page 101 of Held-
My breath stalls. I’ve imagined this moment for years, the moment he finally acknowledged the truth, but now that it’s here, I don’t know how to breathe around it.
“Dad—”
He lifts a hand to stop me. “No. Let me speak.”
Joe glances up but stays silent, sensing the shift.
My father inhales sharply, his shoulders tightening under the weight of words he never imagined he’d have to say. “I should have seen it. A father is supposed to protect his daughter. I preached that. I believed it. And yet, under my own roof, in my own family, I let a predator slip a ring onto your finger.”
The confession hangs in the room like a fragile glass, one wrong move away from shattering.
Reverend Montgomery—unshakeable, righteous, immovable—finally cracking under the truth he’d refused to see.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I say softly, though the words scrape on their way out. “Ethan hid who he was. He fooled a lot of people.”
My father closes his eyes. Slowly shakes his head.
“No. I fooled myself.” His voice deepens with grief and something close to self-loathing. “I chose to believe him. I chose the easier story. I chose the man who quoted scripture and shook my hand in public… instead of the daughter who was crying out for help in ways I never bothered to understand.”
My throat burns.
He looks at me then—really looks—and the pain in his eyes is staggering. “I encouraged you to marry him,” he says, the truth ripping out of him. “I placed you in the hands of a man who hurt you. I did that. And I have to live with it.”
And for the first time, he is no longer my preacher. No longer the man who told me what God wanted. Just a broken father finally realizing the depth of the damage his blindness caused.
Brayden stops pacing, his eyes locked on my father. I can feel the grudging respect building between them—two men who can barely stand each other finding common ground in their hatred of Ethan.
“What matters now,” Joe says, his voice steady but edged with urgency, “is strengthening what we already have. The sheriff’s office took the initial photos, but that isn’t enough. We need documentation from someone outside the mayor’s reach. Cece, I want a second medical evaluation. A full set of photographs and an examiner’s report from a professional who isn’t tied to Kincaid. That will give us evidence no one can tamper with.”
I nod, though the thought of more strangers examining me, documenting my humiliation, makes me want to crawl out of my skin. “When?”
“Today, if possible. I know a doctor who can see you this afternoon.” Joe turns to my father.
“I can make that happen,” Brayden agrees. “Whatever we need to do, we’ll do it.”
“What can I do?” my father interjects. “Give me something. Anything.”
“You mentioned that one of your congregants came to you about what happened yesterday. I will need to speak to her. I will also get in contact with the restaurant owner and any of his staff who were working. Maybe we’ll be lucky, and he’ll have security cameras.”
“The Kincaids have their fingers in everything,” I say quietly, setting my untouched tea on the coffee table. “Even if there was footage, it's probably long gone by now.”
“We won't know until we try,” Joe replies. “And regardless, witness testimony will be crucial. People saw you both at the restaurant. They saw Ethan approach your table.”
My father straightens his shoulders as he takes his seat again. “Mrs. Holloway will speak the truth. She's been my secretary for thirty years. Her loyalty is to the church, not to the Kincaids.”
“Dad, no offense, but the church isn't exactly neutral territory when it comes to me versus Ethan.” The words come out more bitter than I intended, but I can't take them back now.
His face falls slightly. “The past is behind us now.”
Is it, though? I want to believe him, but trust is hard to rebuild. I open my mouth to say more but stop myself. This isn't the time to unpack years of resentment and hurt.
“Joe,” I say instead, turning to face him directly, “you need to understand something. This isn't just about what happened in that bathroom.” I lean forward. “This is personal for the Kincaids. I didn't lay a finger on Ethan other than defending myself. This is them punishing me for divorcing Ethan and for publicly embarrassing them.”
Joe's pen pauses over his legal pad. “Punishment for the divorce?”
“Exactly.” I run a hand through my hair, frustration building in my chest. “I thought hurting the church by pulling their funding for the Church fundraiser was going to be the most damage. But they aren't going to back off. Not now, not ever.”
Brayden's hand comes to rest on my shoulder. “They're powerful, but they're not untouchable.”