Chapter 10
His daily attempts to make amends to my son and me–showing concern and trying to compensate for his wrongdoing–created gossip. To uninformed observers, he was still just my brother–in–law, and his behavior seemed suspicious.
When Vanessa learned about this, she had a massive fight with Knox. They officially split, with Knox declaring he would no longer be the “fall guy” raising his brother’s wife and child.
Furious, Vanessa decided to burn everything down with her. She sent a detailed letter to military
leadership exposing Knox’s fake death, causing an uproar,
Knox had been a factory worker, while his brother Chase had been the military man.
His parents had silently approved his.deception, likely unwilling to give up the generous military
benefits.
But impersonating a service member was a serious offense–enough to land him in serious trouble.
The military acted swiftly. Soon, Knox was sentenced to one year in prison, followed by 500 hours of community service after his release.
During the trial, trying to defend himself, he spilled every detail of the past three years.
That’s when I discovered that throughout those three years, Knox had never crossed any inappropriate boundaries with Vanessa.
This slightly improved my opinion of him–but only slightly.
Wrong was still wrong, with no room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, when the factory learned what had happened, they immediately demanded the return of the death compensation money, making the Thorne family’s already tarnished reputation even
worse.
For this outcome, I could only say that karma had come full circle.
Besides, my priority now was nurturing my new family.
Recently, our military family housing had been assigned, so I found a civilian federal job near the
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Chapter 10
base, providing tutoring for military children.
I’d always been interested in teaching, and this position gave me a profound sense of purpose and
meaning.
The hardships I’d endured hadn’t broken me–instead, they’d become the nutrients helping me climb higher, blossoming into something beautiful.
As for my son, he no longer suffered silently from the absence of his biological father’s love. He’d learned an important lesson: not all parents deserve to be parents–Knox certainly didn’t.
And now he had a wonderful new father who truly cared for him.
Our home was filled with laughter every day, and everything was moving in a positive direction.
Time flew by, seasons changed, my son grew, and I now carried a new life in my womb. Every day, Jayden would press his ear against my belly, mumbling excitedly about becoming a big brother.
One day, while I was enjoying the sunshine in our yard, my former in–laws appeared before me, looking ragged and worn.
Compared to before, both had lost considerable weight and aged dramatically. Their faces were mapped with deep wrinkles, their hair almost completely white.
With trembling hands, they gave me something, tears flowing from their cloudy eyes:
‘Child, we deeply wronged you back then.”
Calmly watching them, I offered no easy forgiveness like “It’s okay” or “That’s all in the past,” though hey hadn’t committed the deception themselves but had been accomplices in enabling it.
The silence now was fair to both my son and my former self.
I looked down at what they’d handed me–the first photo Knox and I had taken together.
The picture was from 2014, when we were still college classmates.
Looking at our happy smiles, I felt no emotional stirring whatsoever.
Although I still remembered how, after printing this photo, Knox had carefully laminated it, afraid it might tear, and treasured it like something incredibly fragile and precious.
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I casually turned the photo over and unexpectedly found a handwritten message:
“Aria, the days I spent with you were the most beautiful moments in my ordinary life.”
“I no longer ask for your forgiveness. I only pray that you and our son will have safe and peaceful
lives.”
At the end of these words were traces of teardrops that had blurred the ink.
I said nothing, feeling only a sense of closure.
I returned the photo to the elderly couple and watched their hunched silhouettes slowly stretch in
the setting sun.
From inside came the aroma of dinner cooking, with Ryker and Jayden calling for me.
I took a deep breath and smiled with genuine happiness.
“Coming!”
I rose slowly and walked toward them.
The sunlight remained warm, seemingly smoothing away all the scars in my heart.
The road ahead was still long, but it would certainly be filled with happiness.
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