Chapter 8 - THE SISTER SHE COULDN'T SAVE
Brielle had never told Dominic the full story of Hannah.
Not until the night he found her crying in Evelyn's garden.
She sat on a stone bench beneath a maple tree.
The photograph of her sister rested in her hands.
Dominic approached quietly.
“Brielle?”
She wiped her face.
“Sorry.”
He sat beside her.
“For what?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Crying.”
Dominic looked at her.
“That's not something you need to apologize for.”
She stared at the photograph.
“My sister died when I was sixteen.”
Dominic remained silent.
Brielle told him everything.
The apartment.
The stranger.
The fear.
The moment she froze.
The terrible sound when Hannah fell.
When she finished, her hands were shaking.
“I should have done something.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You were a child.”
She shook her head.
“I was sixteen.”
“Still a child.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I just stood there.”
Dominic's voice softened.
“You were terrified.”
“I let her die.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Brielle looked at him.
He continued.
“The man who hurt her was responsible.”
She swallowed.
“But I didn't save her.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“I know that hurts.”
He looked toward the garden.
“But not being able to stop something terrible doesn't mean you caused it.”
Brielle began crying.
For eleven years, she'd carried the belief that her sister's death was her fault.
Now someone was finally saying what she'd never allowed herself to believe.
Dominic didn't reach for her immediately.
He waited.
Then Brielle leaned against his shoulder.
He put an arm around her.
They sat together beneath the trees.
After a long time, Brielle whispered:
“I thought if I saved Lily, maybe it would make up for Hannah.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You don't have to earn forgiveness for something you didn't do.”
Brielle closed her eyes.
May you like
And for the first time in eleven years, the memory of her sister felt less like a punishment.
And more like a love she'd been afraid to remember.
