Eleanor Gordon Smith

In the end, Nicole lost.

The First Amendment protected Loftus as a journalist.

And Nicole had to pay legal fees, nearly a quarter of a million dollars, which she could not afford.

The court garnished her military wages.

She quit the Navy, lost two houses, and her car was repossessed over all this.

She filed for bankruptcy.

These days, instead of being stuck between believing she was abused and believing that she wasn't, Nicole's found a third option.

She tries to care a little less.

She can't dial down the uncertainty, so she tries to dial down the stakes.

There's so much that Nicole can't be certain of.

So she hammered out a certainty about herself.

She found a way forward.

She became a pilot.

She got two master's degrees and a PhD in psychology.

She's now a therapist, like she's wanted since she was six.

And she's never cut her mum out of her life.

Nicole's mum has always said that she never abused Nicole.

She maintains that today.

And she says she didn't tell Nicole to lie to Child Protective Services.

Her mum's in her 70s.