Instead, I asked Paige to pass along one sentence only if Hannah was comfortable receiving it: I’m glad you’re finding your way back to what you love.

Two days later, Hannah responded: Thank you.

I am.

Four words.

Not forgiveness.

Not an invitation.

Enough to let me know she was rebuilding the person she had been before I made her life narrower.

That night I looked across the city from the empty office I would soon relinquish.