Chapter 16: The New Beginning
Three months later, we stood in the garden of our old house—now fully ours again. The durian tree that had been there since Clara was little was blooming. Lily’s scars were fading, inside and out. She was laughing again—really laughing—for the first time since all this started.
I put my arm around her shoulders. “You know… we could’ve stayed in the penthouse. It’s safer, more secure.”
She shook her head, smiling. “This place feels like home. Mom’s here. And we’re here. That’s all the safety I need.”
Somewhere down the street, a bird sang. The sun came out through the clouds. For the first time in a long time, I felt like we could breathe again.
We’d lost a lot. But we’d found something far more important: that no matter what life threw at us, we had each other. And that was enough.
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