EPILOGUE
Seven months later, Noah and I were feeding ducks beside a lake when Daniel appeared carrying two paper cups of hot chocolate.
He looked different.
Thinner.
Older.
But more peaceful.
He handed one cup to me.
“I checked. No whipped cream.”
I smiled faintly.
“You remembered.”
“I remember more things than you think.”
Noah ran toward the playground.
Daniel and I watched him climb onto a rope bridge.
After a long silence, he spoke.
“I hated you for a while.”
“I assumed you did.”
“I blamed you for losing the house.”
I nodded.
“Then I blamed Rachel.”
Another pause.
“Then I finally looked at the contract.”
I turned toward him.
Daniel gave a bitter little laugh.
“You know what the worst part was?”
“What?”
“You didn’t take anything from me.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I never owned it.”
I said nothing.
“You gave me six years inside that house. Six years to rebuild my life. Six years to make things right.”
He looked toward Noah.
“And instead, I started acting like I had earned everything.”
“That happens when people receive something long enough without remembering the sacrifice behind it.”
“I’m sorry.”
I had imagined hearing those words many times.
In those fantasies, I always thought they would bring satisfaction.
They didn’t.
They only made me tired.
Daniel continued.
“I’m especially sorry about the text.”
“That one hurt.”
“I know.”
“No, Daniel. I don’t think you do.”
He looked at me.
“You didn’t simply tell me not to attend a party. You showed me exactly where I ranked once pleasing Rachel’s family became inconvenient.”
