was in a photograph included with the prosecution’s evidence.
The water looked calm and blue, almost harmless.
A chair lay overturned near the edge, and one of my shoes rested on the wet stone where I had fallen.
I did not keep that photograph.
I kept the ultrasound.
I kept the court orders.
I kept the message in which Sophie said, “I am ready to tell the truth.”
And I kept the memory of Grace’s heartbeat filling a dark examination room after everyone who wanted to control my future had been removed from it.
That sound belonged to neither Ethan nor Linda.
It belonged to my daughter.
And at last, so did our future.
