She slid it across the table.
At the top, in the same careful handwriting that had ended Mark’s control over their lives, were four words.
We are safe now.
Below them, Lily had drawn two small yellow boots and a gray suitcase standing beside an open red door.
Claire sat down and held the note with both hands.
The first note had been written by a child who believed she had to protect her mother alone.
This one was written by a child beginning to understand that safety could be shared.
Claire framed it.
She placed it near the front door, not as a reminder of the man who had betrayed them, but as proof of the morning they believed the evidence, walked out together, and refused to let his lies decide what happened next.
