CHAPTER 26: SOPHIE'S GROWTH
Sophie was fourteen now.
She was tall and smart and fiercely independent. She had her own friends, her own interests, her own life.
She didn't talk about the wedding anymore.
She didn't have nightmares.
She had healed.
I watched her one morning as she rushed out the door, her backpack slung over one shoulder, her phone in her hand.
"Mom, I'm going to be late!"
"Sophie, wait—"
But she was already gone.
I smiled.
She was becoming her own person. Strong. Capable. Resilient.
Just like her mother.
I thought about everything we had been through. The pain. The fear. The fight.
And I realized that it had all been worth it.
Because it had made Sophie who she was.
And it had made me who I was.
We had survived.
And we were thriving.
I looked out the window at the sun rising over the lake.
May you like
The future was bright.
And I was ready for it.
