For years I had imagined that moment.
He had seen me yelling at him. He thought I was going to demand that he confess everything in front of the town or beg for the years he had stolen from me.
But while I was with Samuel, I realized that Adrian no longer controlled my life
I looked at the man who had abandoned me when I was fifteen years old.
Then I looked at Samuel, who was holding my hand without shame or hesitation.
"I spent years believing I needed your apology to heal," I told Adrian. "But I don't."
Her expression collapsed.
"I forgive myself," I said. "That's enough."
Adrian lowered his gaze and stepped back.
Then my mother suddenly stood up.
—Clara —he whispered.
I turned to her.
I was crying.
"I should have protected you," he said. "You came to me and I forced you to be quiet because I was afraid of what people would say."
My father covered his face with both hands.
My mother went out into the central aisle.
"You were just a child," she continued. "The shame was never yours. It was ours."
I had waited years to hear those words.
But they didn't erase what had happened.
