CHAPTER 14: A NEW HORIZON
Six months later, on the sunlit coast of Maine, a small wooden cottage sat overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The air was fresh and salted, free of smog, concrete, and wiretaps.
Dante and his younger brother Leo had settled in a nearby fishing village, running a quiet boat repair shop. The bond between them had been healed not through forgetting, but through the hard, patient work of redemption.
Marco had traded his three-piece tailored suits for soft flannel shirts and denim. He spent his afternoons restoring an old wooden sailboat in the harbor, his tattooed hands now stained with varnish and cedar oil rather than gunpowder.
On the porch, a small easel stood under the shade of a flowering dogwood tree. Lily, now seven years old, wore a bright yellow sundress, her hair tied in neat braids. She dipped her paintbrush into vibrant greens and blues, painting the ocean waves crashing against the rocks.
May you like
There were no giant eyes in her paintings anymore. Only the sea, the sun, and a tall, sturdy oak tree standing proud on the cliffside.
---
