She started to cry, silent tears streaking down her face. “Please don’t press charges,” she whispered.
I gathered the papers calmly. “I won’t—as long as you never mention Daniel’s name again in this context. If you spread one more lie, I’ll go straight to the court. Do you understand?”
She nodded, broken.
As people later asked about the incident at the party, I only said, “Emma was confused. She made a mistake.” I didn’t need to expose her further. The truth was enough for me.
And every time I passed by my house, the one Daniel and I had built a life in, I smiled faintly. Not out of joy, but out of defiance. Emma had tried to take it from me with lies and deceit. Instead, she gave me a reason to stand taller.
Daniel’s memory was mine to guard, and I intended to do so—with every last breath.
