Chapter 5 - Ghosts of the Past
Later that morning, Lily woke up and handed Ethan a worn leather journal wrapped in plastic that she had carried inside her small backpack.
"Mama wanted you to have this," Lily said quietly. "She wrote in it when she was sick."
Ethan opened the journal. Claire’s neat handwriting covered the pages. As he turned to the final entries, written just weeks before her death, he found a passage addressed directly to him.
"To Ethan Cole,
If you are reading this, it means my time has run out, and my sweet Lily found her way to you. I know about your tragedy. I remember the pain in your eyes the day you spoke to our graduating class, right after you lost your daughter Abigail.
When your company's software cut off my benefits, I was angry at first. But then I realized you didn't do this out of malice; you did it because you were hiding inside numbers to avoid feeling the pain of your loss.
I don't hold hate in my heart. I only ask one thing: don't let my girls grow up without love. Help them, Ethan. And in saving them, allow yourself to heal."
Ethan gripped the journal tight to his chest. Tears streamed down his face unchecked. Claire had not sought revenge; she had offered forgiveness and a path to redemption.
He looked over at Lily, who was watching him with gentle, understanding eyes.
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"I'm sorry, Lily," Ethan choked out. "I am so, so sorry."
Lily walked over and wrapped her small arms around his neck. "Mama said tears are just sadness leaving your body so room can be made for happiness."
