A Turning Point
By the time the clock struck midnight, one thing was clear: Elena and Lily were no longer outsiders. Whether she accepted it or not, Charles had drawn them into the heart of a legacy she barely understood.
Elena looked down at her sleeping sister, then up at Charles. His face was drawn, weary from years of buried truths.
“If I stay,” she whispered, “it will be for her. For Lily. She deserves more than the life we’ve had.”
Charles nodded. “Then stay. And I will tell you everything — about your mother, about the night she disappeared, and about the storm that changed all our lives.”
