Can I disagree with you about this “Lester vs Richard” points?
I mean what about if Sarah doesn’t trust Lester and in her mind he is a little bit more than a “pawn” for sexual “gratification”? Would not be more coherent if she tries to be independent from him? Richard should be seen in this way. Of course she would depend on Richard but he would be her chief in any case.
My thinking is that people supposes Sarah is a passive actor but 32 chapters have demonstrated that she is not passive at all! She wants to keep her independence
I insist that you do, healthy discussion is built on challenging viewpoints without being disrespectful.
It's a logical viewpoint, however I base my views on what's written. Example from ch32: If Sarah had simply said out loud that "She loved Lester, or had feelings for him, etc" then I could believe that she was using Lester to her own advantage and could later claim it was just "sex talk." However she had a lot of inner monologue where she thought through her feelings, this to me means they are facts for her character, that the feelings are genuine. Could DS write some 'gotcha scene' later in the series, sure he could do that, but he'd lose any trust he has with his readers. No one likes the rug pulled out from under them, without there being a foundation for plausibility, or hints of possibility being written prior to the 'gotcha scene.'
Having said that, I have a sneaking suspicion that you may be right in a sense. That at the very end, Sarah will be the only one to walk away from this car wreck, scarred for sure, but unbroken.