"All I want is peace. I want to dance without looking over my shoulder. I want to build a life here in this beautiful home with this safety you've given me. I don't want to go back to that hell. I don't want to think about them. I just want to be free."
Her voice broke on the last word.
And I understood.
Really understood.
I was the kind of person who paid blood with blood. Someone hurt me or mine? I ended them. Systematically. Permanently. No mercy, no forgiveness, just complete destruction.
But Lila?
Lila was a gentle soul who knew forgiveness. Who understood that sometimes survival meant letting go. Who recognized when the universe gave you an opportunity to escape and chose not to dig up old wounds that would only bleed you dry.
She was teaching me something I'd never really learned.
Forgive and forget.
