Chapter 6 - The Silent Promise
When Daniel finally finished his eulogy, stepping down from the podium to a chorus of sympathetic murmurs, I walked forward. The chapel was completely silent again, everyone waiting to see if the "unstable" mother would cause a scene. I ignored them all. I approached the altar, reaching out with trembling fingers to touch the polished white wood of the coffins.
The wood was cold. I traced the silver wings of Emma’s butterfly, then the wooden propeller of Ethan’s airplane.
"I’m sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking just enough for the front row to hear.
Behind me, I could practically feel Daniel smirking. He thought I was breaking down. He thought I was apologizing to him, admitting my fabricated guilt in front of our family, our friends, and his board of directors. He thought he had completely shattered me.
I wasn’t apologizing to him.
May you like
I was apologizing to my beautiful babies for bringing a monster into their lives. I was apologizing for not being there to pull them from their beds.
Every breath I took from that exact moment forward belonged to a solemn vow. I made a promise beneath the heavy scent of those funeral lilies, standing before two hundred witnesses who tragically mistook my silence for surrender and my shock for guilt. I promised Emma and Ethan that the man who put them in these boxes would never walk free again. I promised them that I would tear down his empire brick by brick, and I would make sure he was buried beneath the rubble.
