No one spoke.
Jonathan Vale stood on the balcony above them, his hands resting lightly on the old wooden railing.
For years Lily had imagined this moment differently.
She had imagined anger.
She had imagined shouting.
She had imagined demanding answers from the man whose name had haunted every file, every photograph, every whispered conversation.
Instead...
She simply stared at him.
Because the man before her didn't look victorious.
He looked tired.
Not the kind of tired that came from a sleepless night.
The kind that settled into someone's soul after carrying the same burden for decades.
His hair had turned almost completely silver.
Fine lines framed his eyes.
His shoulders carried an invisible weight.
For the first time...
Lily didn't see a villain.
She saw someone who h
