Chapter 22

It was a day of drizzle when Theodore was laid to rest. Clarisse did not wear black. Instead, she was in the same white dress she had worn the first time they met, a bouquet of roses in her hand. She did not step forward. She simply watched from a distance as the small casket was lowered into the ground before it was slowly buried beneath the soil. When the ceremony ended, the mourners began to leave. Only then did Clarisse walk up to the grave. She stood there for a long time. Staring at the photo of Theodore etched into the headstone, her mind drifted into a haze. The man who had once held every ounce of her love and hatred was gone forever from this world. Clarisse bent down and placed the roses gently on the grave, her voice soft as she said, "Theodore, I forgive you." Her hand reached out, fingertips brushing over the cold, engraved letters, almost like a final farewell. Then, she turned and walked away from the cemetery without a backward glance, her steps steady and res