Epilogue
Months passed.
Surgeries. Rehab. Fear.
But Ethan never left my side.
Ms. Parker secured everything for him.
Ryan and Claire turned on each other in court.
Both were convicted.
I sold the house.
Moved somewhere quiet.
Small home. Big windows.
Ethan planted a tree.
“So it grows with you, Mom.”
Sometimes fear still visits me.
But then Ethan appears at the door.
“Mom… are you still here?”
And I always answer:
“Yes, baby. I’m still here.”
Because some people try to bury you early…
But sometimes—
a child becomes the reason you rise again.