Chapter 18 - WHAT MARLO CHOSE
Grant went to prison.
The conspiracy finally ended.
For the first time in generations, nobody in the family was fighting over control.
Marlo graduated high school.
She received scholarships from three universities.
She rejected all three.
Instead, she chose a small program focused on public-interest law.
Sable laughed when she heard.
“You want to become a lawyer?”
Marlo smiled.
“I want to understand contracts.”
Weston groaned.
“That's terrifying.”
Marlo laughed.
“Good.”
At graduation, her grandmother approached her.
“I owe you an apology.”
Marlo looked at her.
“For what?”
“For giving fear to your mother.”
Marlo thought.
“I don't hate you.”
Her grandmother cried.
“That is more mercy than I deserve.”
Marlo hugged her.
Sable watched from across the lawn.
She remembered being twenty-six.
She remembered being rejected.
She remembered thinking her future had been decided by people who didn't value her.
Now she watched her daughter stand surrounded by people who had once been enemies.
Life was strange.
Sometimes the things you feared losing were the very things you needed to lose.
That night, Weston found Sable sitting alone.
“You're thinking too much.”
“I always think too much.”
He sat beside her.
“Marlo is leaving.”
“I know.”
“You're scared.”
“Yes.”
“She'll be fine.”
“I know.”
“But?”
Sable smiled.
“She doesn't need us the way she used to.”
Weston took her hand.
“That means we did something right.”
Sable leaned against him.
“Do you ever think about that hospital room?”
“Every year.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where I almost became someone I couldn't forgive.”
Sable looked at him.
“You changed.”
“You gave me the chance.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You changed because you chose to.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then he reached into his pocket.
Sable laughed.
“Another box?”
“Maybe.”
She opened it.
Inside was the old silver bracelet.
The one he had given her years earlier.
REMEMBER THIS MOMENT.
She smiled.
“I thought you lost this.”
“I had it repaired.”
“Why?”
“Because we're starting another chapter.”
She looked at him.
“Are you proposing again?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I'm asking you to remember that we survived.”
May you like
Sable kissed him.
“We did.”
