Chapter 10 - THE UNBROKEN LAKEThe moon rose high and full over Lake Michigan, casting a brilliant silver path across the dark, tranquil water.
I walked down the long wooden ramp to the end of the dock—the very dock where ten months ago Daniel had sat beside Sloane, believing he had erased our twenty-eight years of marriage.
The air was cool, scented with sweet pine and damp stone.
I sat down on the smooth cedar bench at the edge of the water, slipping off my heels, letting the cool lake breeze blow softly through my hair.
Beside me on the wooden bench lay a small, flat gray stone that Lucy had left behind earlier that afternoon.
I picked up the stone, holding its smooth, cool weight in the palm of my hand.
For nearly thirty years, I had believed that my worth was defined by being Daniel Whitmore's wife, by protecting his reputation, by maintaining his home, and by keeping his peace.
I had let myself become invisible so that he could shine.
It had taken the ultimate betrayal on this very dock to make me realize the truth: I had never needed his permission to be strong. The power, the legacy, the dignity, and the home had always belonged to me.
I stood up at the edge of the dock, pulled back my arm, and flicked my wrist with practiced, effortless grace.
The gray stone skipped across the silver water.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven times.
A perfect skip across the calm, unbroken lake.
I smiled, a warm, radiant, magnificent smile that lit up the dark night.
I turned around, walked up the lit brick path toward the bright, glowing windows of Cedar Point House, and closed the door firmly behind me.
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My home was quiet. My heart was whole.
And the music of my life was finally, beautifully, entirely my own.
