Chapter 15 - Walking Away Stronger
"Summer..."
Austin's voice cracked.
I stopped but didn't turn around.
"I'm sorry."
For two years I had imagined hearing those words.
Now they sounded small.
Too late.
I looked back only once.
My mother leaned against the doorway, completely defeated.
Sheila stood speechless, realizing her future rested on lies she never questioned.
Austin remained frozen on the porch of a house he no longer knew belonged to him.
I walked away carrying only my backpack, my suitcase, a phone, and the truth.
The courts would decide the paperwork.
The recording would eventually speak for itself.
But in that moment, justice had already begun.
Because the family that once erased me finally understood one terrifying fact:
May you like
I had never come home empty-handed.
**If you were Summer, could you ever forgive the family that let you lose two years of your life?**
