Chapter 23
[Side Story. Sophia]
She showed up at Blake’s funeral.
There were just a few quiet cops from his precinct. She placed a small bouquet by his casket.
Looking at his photo, he was in his uniform, face serious as ever, like the guy forgot how to smile.
She stared at him, desperately trying to burn his face into her memory.
But slowly, her composure just fell apart, her lip trembling until tears started streaming down.
She never blamed Blake for anything.
These past five years, she’d been living in her own private hell.
When Blake uncovered the truth, what hit her hardest was actually relief.
Like a thief who’d stolen something insanely valuable and lived in constant fear, finally able to give it back.
“That kind of soul-deep relief.
it the funeral, she ran into Mrs. Reed.
fter two years, the once perfectly put together society wife was completely gray, looking twenty years older.
4r. Reed had died from leukemia a month earlier. Mrs. Reed had bought back their old house in Riverside Heights and was living there alone.
he said she came to say goodbye to Blake on Stella’s behalf.
ophia quietly disappeared into the crowd.
very year on Memorial Day, she’d visit the cemetery, bringing white lilies for Blake and pink roses for Stella.
omeone who loved pretty things as much as Stella probably wouldn’t want sad funeral flowers.
ophia spotted Mrs. Reed again three years later.
he was wandering through downtown traffic, clearly not all there, showing her phone to random strangers. The screen displayed a photo of Stella.
This is my daughter. She’s seven. Have you seen her?”
eople just shook their heads, some getting annoyed: “Crazy old lady.”
When Sophia tried to lead Mrs. Reed away, the woman suddenly hugged her, mistaking her for Stella.
he cried: “Stella, Mommy’s taking you to the amusement park.”
Mommy promised to take you when you got straight A’s in first grade. Mommy almost forgot.”
Sophia let Mrs. Reed take her to the amusement park.
the rode the carousel and smiled while Mrs. Reed took photos with her phone.
When Sophia was thirty-four, Mrs. Reed passed away in hospice care.
She went peacefully.
Sophia began to feel lost.
She didn’t know how to continue with her life.
For years, taking care of Mrs. Reed in Stella’s place had given her a purpose.
She wanted redemption, wanted to ease her guilt.
Eventually, Sophia started working at a nursing home as a caregiver.
There was this funny old lady there who always invited her to share fried snacks.
Sophia would smile and say: “You’re so positive. Your children must be really good to you.”
An old man nearby would give her warning looks.
The old lady would say casually: “My daughter jumped from a building last year because of depression.”
“It was my fault, really. I always forced her to live according to my rules. Later, when her best friend got sick, I didn’t want her to stay by her side, so I locked her up at home for years.”
“She felt so guilty and regretful about it.”
The old lady showed her a photo: “My daughter had such a pretty name-Riley.”
The girl in the photo looked familiar.
Sophia suddenly couldn’t speak.
Sophia worked diligently at the nursing home her whole life, seeing many people pass away.
She seemed to have become numb to life and death.
Eventually, she became a resident of the same nursing home.
n the end, she passed away in the nursing home garden, lying on a lounger in the sunshine.
he spoke to the air: “Blake, if there’s another life, I don’t want to meet you…”
he said: “Stella, I’m sorry.”
The caregivers around her didn’t know who Stella or Blake were.
hose names, like the generation they belonged to, had long been forgotten.
