Chapter 13: Where It All Began
We drove to my parents’ old house. It had been rebuilt, sold, but the new owners let us walk the grounds. I stood where the porch used to be, where I’d run out coughing and screaming all those years ago.
Elias stood beside me. “What do you want to do now?”
“I want to live,” I said. “Not hide. Not run. Just… live.”
He smiled—a real smile, soft and warm. “Then let’s start over. Properly.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Not an engagement ring—yet. A silver locket, exactly like my mother’s.
“I had it made,” he said. “For you. To replace the one she stole.”
I opened it. Inside, a tiny photo of my parents on one side. On the other: space for whatever comes next.
Just then, my phone rang. The detective.
“Clara? We just got word. Colleen… she’s willing to make a full confession. But only to you.”
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