Chapter 21
Adria never forgot what happened at the wedding.
But she stopped allowing it to control her life.
She had learned something too.
She had spent years trying to keep peace inside the family.
She had believed that avoiding conflict was the same as protecting the people she loved.
It wasn't.
Sometimes silence protected the wrong person.
Sometimes refusing to confront cruelty allowed it to grow.
At the wedding, she had finally chosen differently.
She had stood between her son and the person hurting him.
She had trusted him.
And he had trusted her.
That mattered more than any ring.
More than any wedding.
More than appearances.
One evening, Callum asked her,
“Mom, are you proud of me?”
Adria smiled.
“Every day.”
“Even when I was scared?”
“Especially then.”
He hugged her.
Adria closed her eyes.
May you like
She knew courage wasn't the absence of fear.
It was telling the truth despite it.
