He pointed to the smallest window.

“Because you listen when I talk.”

She hung the picture beside the reading corner where children could see it.

She had once worked in a mansion full of priceless objects, polishing their surfaces until visitors admired them.

None had given her what those simple words gave her: the knowledge that she had helped someone feel heard.

She did not know whether the future would bring more challenges, or whether the Hamilton family would ever fully understand the consequences of the accusation.

She knew only that she had people to love, work worth doing, and choices that belonged to her.