Chapter 17 - The Name Remains
Chloe continued her life with a remarkable, fierce resilience.
She graduated high school, preparing for her first year of university. Through it all, she kept the exact same surname she had always had.
She did not keep it out of a sense of legal obligation, or because it was convenient for her paperwork.
She kept it by her own absolute, unwavering choice. It was a badge of honor, a testament to the man who had raised her.
One quiet, rainy Tuesday night, Arthur and Chloe were sitting together at the kitchen table, eating takeout pizza. The house was peaceful, devoid of the toxic, underlying tension that had plagued it when Evelyn lived there.
May you like
Arthur looked at his daughter, swirling the ice in his glass of water.
"Have you ever wondered what your life would have been like if you had grown up with him?" Arthur asked, his voice hesitant, revealing a tiny sliver of lingering insecurity.
