The Revenge of One Humiliated
And I have given this fugitive a life, a life built upon a tomb.
I take her hand again. It is still so cold.
— Chloe, I whisper, testing the name, the taste of poison on my tongue.
The word clings to her. It suits her. My heart tightens.
I have become the guardian of a monstrous secret. The protector of a ghost. The mother of a girl who is not mine, bearing the name of the one who is no more.
Redemption, I see now, is not a golden light. It is a dark and winding path, paved with good intentions and necessary lies. And I have just taken the first step, the heaviest of all.