belongs to whoever acts entitled enough to take it.
The ring was back.
The house was mine.
The record existed.
The marriage that helped create the lie was ending.
Everything was resolved.
And still, one question lingered in a way that no legal document could settle.
Was Vanessa’s biggest offense the theft, the forgery, or the certainty that family would pressure me to stay quiet once she was caught?
That was the part I kept turning over as the lake went dark.
Because the ring could be returned.
Some kinds of damage tell you exactly who people were all along.
Page 7 of 7
