Chapter 20: The Family We Choose
One Year Later
The late summer sun cast long, golden shadows across the patio. Clara sat at a wrought-iron table, a textbook open in front of her, highlighting a passage for her upcoming final exams.
Suddenly, a small, muddy missile barreled into her side.
"Clara! Look!" Leo beamed, holding up a remarkably fat, croaking toad in his dirt-caked hands.
Clara laughed, closing her textbook. "Wow, Leo! He is magnificent. Have you named him yet?"
"Mr. Toad," Leo said proudly, before bounding off toward the garden to return the creature to the bushes.
Ethan walked out through the sliding glass doors, carrying two glasses of iced tea. He wore a simple t-shirt and jeans—a stark contrast to the rigid, heavily tailored suits he used to wear like armor. He set a glass down next to Clara’s textbook.
"He's going to track mud all over the kitchen," Ethan noted, watching his son with fond amusement.
"I'll have you know, I bought a very effective mop," Clara teased, taking a sip of the cold tea.
Ethan sat down across from her, the warmth of the sun matching the peace that had finally settled over his life. They weren't bound by blood, or even by a romantic entanglement. They were bound by something much stronger—a shared survival, a mutual respect, and a profound love for the little boy who was currently trying to teach a toad how to fetch.
"You know, Marcus said the old estate finally sold to a developer," Ethan mentioned casually. "They're tearing it down to build luxury condos."
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Clara looked out over the green lawn, the dark memory of the marble foyer feeling like it belonged to another lifetime. She smiled, looking back at Ethan.
"Good riddance."
