Maya frowned.
“Even family?”
I nodded.
“Especially family, if they keep hurting you.”
Grace climbed into my lap.
“Are we still a family?”
I hugged both girls.
“Always.”
A year passed.
Then another.
The fraud case eventually resolved through a mixture of restitution agreements, account corrections, and legal consequences I never bothered following closely once my attorney told me my credit had been restored.
I did not need to watch Evelyn suffer.
That would still have made my life about her.
Instead, I watched my daughters grow.
I reduced my working hours.
I attended school plays.
I learned how to spend a Saturday doing absolutely nothing productive.
We returned to Hawaii when the twins turned seven.
Same island.
Same beach.
This time, when Grace spotted a turtle, she did not scream.
She simply grabbed my hand.
“There.”
I looked beneath the water.
A green sea turtle moved slowly through the clear blue, completely unconcerned with the three humans watching from above.
