She pressed her hand to the wall and wept. “I’m here, my love,” she whispered. Alistair stood beside her, saying nothing.

“I came late, son,” he said to the wall. “But I’ll finish your dream.”

Nellie didn’t forgive him that day, and perhaps she never would. But she could see that he was turning his guilt into something real for other people.

Months later, the judge handed Katie a long sentence. In court, she asked to speak to Nellie one last time.

“I only wanted to save our family’s name,” Katie said from behind the bars.

Nellie looked at her without flinching. “You don’t save a family by stealing a child from his mother. You didn’t protect us. You only cared about your pride.”