Chapter 18 - THE HOMECOMING
Years passed.
Sophie turned sixteen. She was tall and bright and brave. She carried herself with Lydia’s grace. But she had a fire in her eyes that was entirely her own.
Hazel turned ten. Soft and sweet and kind. She loved fiercely. She trusted deeply. Just like her mother.
They knew everything. I had told them—when they were old enough to understand. The truth. The tragedy. The choices. The forgiveness.
Sophie once said to me:
“Vanessa wasn’t evil, Dad. She was just hurting. And she didn’t know how to ask for help.”
It was more forgiveness than I might have offered. But it was Lydia’s way. And it was the way my daughters had been raised.
One evening, we stood together in the garden. Watching the sunset.
Sophie leaned against my shoulder.
“Do you think they’re together now?” she asked. “Lydia and Vanessa?”
I looked at the sky. At the soft, fading light.
“I like to think so. Back together. No secrets. No jealousy. Just… sisters.”
Hazel took my hand.
“I think they’re happy now.”
May you like
I looked at my girls. At the life we had built from the wreckage. At the love that had survived everything.
“Yes,” I said. “I think they are.”
