Chapter 13 - The Appeal
Evelyn appealed her conviction.
Her new attorneys claimed she had suffered from an undiagnosed neurological disorder that impaired her judgment. They requested access to Miles and Noah for medical testing related to potential inherited conditions.
Hannah recognized the tactic immediately.
Evelyn was seeking a legal path back into their lives.
Miles declined all contact.
The appellate court upheld the conviction, but Evelyn managed to send one final message through a former cellmate.
I know where Lily is buried. Graves can be moved.
Hannah panicked.
She had buried Lily in a small cemetery outside her college town. When she contacted the cemetery, staff discovered that someone had recently requested exhumation forms using forged identification.
Police intervened before anything happened.
The request traced back to Franklin Ward’s remaining associates.
Hannah traveled to Lily’s grave with Miles.
For years, she had visited alone.
This time, she brought him.
The headstone was small.
LILY MERCER
LOVED FOR EVERY MOMENT
Miles knelt and placed a wooden bird beside it—the main character from Hannah’s book.
“I wish I had known her,” he said.
Hannah took his hand.
“You know her now.”
They stood in silence while autumn leaves moved across the grass.
On the drive home, Hannah removed her wedding ring.
Miles noticed but said nothing.
Then she placed it back on her finger.
“I’m choosing this marriage again,” she said. “Not the old one. That marriage is over.”
Miles pulled the car to the roadside because he could no longer see through his tears.
“The new one has conditions,” she continued.
“Name them.”
“Truth before comfort. Partnership before family expectations. And no one—not even us—gets to call control love.”
“I agree.”
May you like
She kissed him.
It was their first kiss since the night of the camera footage.
