Chapter 10 - The Light on the Lake
One year later. Late October.
The sun set over the rolling hills of Duluth, painting Lake Superior in brilliant shades of amber and gold. The old Victorian house on the cliff had been fully restored with warm cedar wood and clean glass.
On the front porch, I sat in a wooden rocking chair. Ryan sat on the steps, working on blueprints for a new children’s shelter funded by our parents' reclaimed estate. Down on the lawn, Leo was playing with a golden retriever puppy, his laughter echoing through the autumn air.
Melissa walked out with warm apple cider, placing a loving hand on Ryan's shoulder.
Following the destruction of the 1888 Charter, the federal government had dismantled the Sterling Trust. Arthur Sterling and Eleanor Vance were serving heavy prison sentences. Even better, our long-lost sister Clara had been located in New York, where she was finally living a free, peaceful life.
Hope sat in my lap, now a bright, dark-haired thirteen-month-old. As she reached up to play with my sweater collar, her soft dress slipped slightly off her right shoulder blade.
There, bathed in the golden October light, was the mark—the oval weeping eye surrounded by six small freckles.
It was no longer a sign of fear or an ancient curse. It was a mark of survival—a reminder that no strength on earth is greater than the unbreakable love of a family willing to fight for its own.
May you like
Ryan looked up at me with a soft smile. "She looks just like you, Maya."
I leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss against Hope's forehead. "She looks like us, Ryan," I whispered softly. "She looks like us."
