Chapter 123

• Howard strode ahead through the pattering rain, shoulders hunched under his black umbrella, boots squelching on the wet grass as he made for the waiting car at the cemetery's edge, not looking back.
• Vanessa lingered, turning sharply from the fresh grave, her heels sinking slightly as she hurried to Charlotte under the drizzle. She grasped Charlotte's arm, eyes red-rimmed but fierce.
• "Thank you—for everything," Vanessa said, voice thick, squeezing tighter. "You gave her a chance when no one else would."