Chapter 17 - ISAAC ASKED TO SEE THE BATHROOM AGAINThree months after Prudence left, Cedric renovated the upstairs bathroom.
Not because he planned to.
A pipe leaked behind the wall.
Contractors had to replace tile.
Isaac avoided the room entirely.
He used the guest bathroom.
Cedric noticed.
This time, he noticed.
One evening, he asked:
“Does that bathroom bother you?”
Isaac shrugged.
Cedric waited.
Then the boy nodded.
“We can change it.”
“How?”
“Paint. Different sink. Whatever.”
Isaac looked surprised.
“Can we make it green?”
“Bright green?”
“Like frog green.”
Cedric laughed.
“That’s terrible.”
Isaac smiled.
“Please?”
“Fine.”
They chose green.
Not elegant.
Not something Hannah would have selected.
Perfect.
When the renovation finished, Isaac stood in the doorway.
New tile.
Green walls.
Different mirror.
Same room.
He didn’t enter.
Cedric stayed behind him.
“No rush.”
Isaac looked inside.
Then walked to the sink.
Touched the faucet.
Turned on water.
Cedric’s chest tightened.
Isaac wet his hands.
Then splashed his own face.
He laughed.
Cedric almost cried.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we keep it green forever?”
“We’ll see how you feel when you’re sixteen.”
Isaac grinned.
“Still green.”
They both knew the bathroom wasn’t magically fixed.
Memory didn’t disappear with paint.
But the room belonged to Isaac again.
That mattered.
Later, Mateo came inside to see the ridiculous color.
He laughed.
“Very subtle.”
Isaac pointed.
“I picked it.”
“I could tell.”
Mateo remained part of the family’s life.
Not as a hero Cedric constantly praised.
Mateo disliked that.
He simply kept gardening.
Sometimes Isaac helped.
One afternoon Cedric asked:
“Why did you record instead of interrupting?”
Mateo thought.
“I almost interrupted.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was afraid she’d deny it.”
Cedric nodded.
“She did anyway.”
“Yes.”
“But the video mattered.”
Mateo looked uncomfortable.
“I wish I had protected him sooner.”
Cedric understood.
“So do I.”
They stood quietly.
Neither absolved the other.
Neither needed to.
They had both missed signs.
The difference was what they did after seeing them.
The financial cases continued.
Brighton recovered some money from Prudence’s investment assets.
Nolan entered a guilty plea after cooperating with investigators.
Employee retirement funds were made whole through insurance and restitution mechanisms.
Cedric voluntarily paid for an independent audit and new internal controls.
At the board meeting, he stood before senior managers.
“I signed things I should have read.”
Some attorneys advised him not to say that.
He said it anyway.
“I trusted people without verification. Fraud was committed against me, but leadership still requires acknowledging the environment that made it easier.”
It was uncomfortable.
Good.
Cedric changed how the company operated.
Dual approvals.
Independent compliance.
No private adviser handling both personal and company matters.
At home, he changed smaller things too.
He checked school emails himself.
Attended therapy with Isaac when invited.
Cooked twice a week.
Badly.
Isaac preferred Mateo’s tacos.
Cedric accepted the insult.
One evening, Naomi called.
“Prudence’s title claim is formally dismissed.”
Cedric exhaled.
“Done?”
“Done.”
“The house?”
“Clean title in the trust.”
He looked toward the kitchen.
Isaac sat doing homework.
“Good.”
Naomi paused.
“Do you feel relieved?”
Cedric thought.
“Yes.”
“Happy?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
Then she said:
“You know, Harold’s codicil saved enormous trouble.”
“I know.”
“Hannah saved it too.”
Cedric looked at the attic stairs.
“She saved more than that.”
After the call, Isaac asked:
“What happened?”
“The house paperwork is finished.”
“Does that mean it’s mine?”
Cedric smiled.
“Sort of.”
Isaac’s eyes widened.
“Can I paint my room black?”
“No.”
“But if it’s mine—”
“It is not that kind of mine.”
Isaac groaned.
Cedric laughed.
Then the boy asked:
“Why did you give it to me?”
Cedric thought carefully.
“Because Mom and I wanted you to always have security.”
Isaac looked around.
“I already do.”
Cedric’s smile faded.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re here.”
For a second, Cedric couldn’t speak.
Then he nodded.
“Yeah.”
Isaac returned to homework.
Cedric looked around the house Prudence had nearly destroyed herself trying to control.
Isaac had reduced its meaning to one sentence.
May you like
You’re here.
Cedric wished every adult in the story had understood that sooner.
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