And the child he threw off a mountain will grow up rich, and safe, and loved, on the money his father died reaching for and will never touch again.

Chapter 17 — What Survival Costs

I want to be honest about the part that does not fit neatly into a triumph, because it would be a kind of lie to end this story as though walking into that chapel healed me.

It did not.

Surviving an attempt on your life by the person you loved and trusted most in the world is not a thing you simply recover from, and I am wary of any version of my story that suggests otherwise.

For a long time afterward, I did not sleep well.