Chapter 15 - The New Beginning
Two years later.
The sun shone brightly over a sprawling backyard in Colorado. The air was crisp, clean, and entirely free of the shadows of the past.
Lucas, now six years old, was running across the grass, chasing a golden retriever puppy. He was healthy, vibrant, and completely oblivious to the darkness he had survived.
Sarah stood on the deck, holding a pitcher of fresh lemonade, watching her husband wrestle with their son on the lawn. Daniel looked up, catching her eye, and smiled. The heavy burden that had weighed on his shoulders for so long was completely gone.
They had sold the house in Austin. They had changed their numbers. They had built a fortress of love and safety a thousand miles away from the prison cell where Beatrice would spend the rest of her days.
“Hey, Mommy!” Lucas shouted, running up the deck stairs, his face flushed with joy. “Can I have a piece of that cherry pie we baked?”
May you like
Sarah knelt down, kissing his cheek. There was no hesitation, no fear. Only the sweet reality of their reclaimed lives.
“Of course you can, my sweet boy,” she smiled. “You can have as much as you want.”
