Chapter 20 - An Unwritten Path|
A year later.
The summer sun bathed the back garden of a quiet, renovated farmhouse in Chester County in brilliant golden light.
Claire, now a year and a half old, was giggling wildly as she took small, uncertain steps across the green lawn, holding onto Daniel’s fingers as he walked carefully beside her.
Catherine sat on the covered porch, holding a sketch pad, watching them with a warm, radiant smile.
Rachel stepped out onto the porch, carrying a tray of fresh lemonade. "She’s going to be running by the end of the summer, Catherine."
"I know," Catherine laughed softly, watching Daniel swing Claire up onto his shoulders, making the little girl scream with delight.
A soft chime sounded from Catherine’s phone resting on the porch table.
It was an official legal notice forwarded from Henry Sterling’s office:
Michael Harrison’s final appeal was rejected by the Third Circuit Court today. Sentence confirmed: fifteen years without parole.
Catherine looked at the screen for three seconds, then turned it face down on the wooden table, letting the dark past dissolve completely into the summer breeze.
She walked down the porch steps onto the soft grass, walking over to where Daniel and Claire were playing near the flower beds.
Claire reached out her small, energetic hands toward her mother, babbling happily.
"Mama! Look!" Claire chimed, pointing a tiny finger at a yellow butterfly resting on a rose bush.
Catherine dropped to her knees on the grass, pulling her daughter and Daniel into a close, warm embrace under the afternoon sun.
The phone on the porch buzzed once more with an incoming notification, but no one on the lawn moved to answer it.
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The story of the Harrison empire was over.
The story of Catherine and Claire was just beginning.
