Weeks later, Stanley tracked me down to the research institute where I worked.
He stood stubbornly waiting outside in temperatures dozens of degrees below zero, and wouldn't leave until I agreed to see him.
He looked gaunt and hollowed out, dark circles carved under his eyes that brimmed with nothing but raw regret and desperate pleading.
The second we laid eyes on each other, he burst into a rambling, incoherent confession.
"Ellie, I'm so sorry. I was an i***t! I was blind! I had no idea how rotten Zoey was to the core! I didn't know what she did to your mom. I swear I had no idea back then! If I'd even had the slightest clue what she was planning, I would've killed that venomous b***h with my own two hands! I'd rather have died myself than let anything happen to your mother! Ellie, I
