CHAPTER 5: THE AFTERMATH
Months passed.
I moved into a small apartment with Lily. We decorated it together, making it feel like home.
Mark was convicted of attempted kidnapping and sentenced to five years in prison.
Valerie received a lesser sentence and was released on probation.
I heard through mutual friends that she'd moved across the country and was trying to start over.
I didn't care.
All that mattered was Lily.
She started seeing a therapist who specialized in trauma. She began to heal.
The nightmares stopped.
The panic attacks faded.
And slowly, she started to smile again.
One evening, as we were making dinner together, she asked me something unexpected.
"Mom, do you think I could ever forgive him?"
I paused.
"Forgive who?"
"Dad."
I looked at her.
"Lily, forgiveness isn't something you have to do. It's something you can choose to do if and when you're ready."
"Are you going to forgive him?"
I thought about it.
"I don't know. Part of me wants to. Part of me never will."
"He hurt us."
"Yes. He did."
"But we're okay now."
I smiled.
"Yes, we are."
May you like
She hugged me.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like everything was going to be okay.
