Chapter 182 - Closure

Noah

I placed a hesitant hand on Clara’s shoulder. My touch was awkward, uncertain. “I miss Owen too… your brother was a good man.”

The words felt strange coming out of my mouth. Comforting the woman who had played such a large role in wrecking my marriage? The irony wasn’t lost on me.

But as I looked into her tearful eyes, that looked so much like her brother’s, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy. She had no family left. And despite everything, I knew what that kind of loneliness felt like.

Clara turned to me with a trembling smile, tears clinging to her lashes. “Thank you for coming with me, Noah. It means more than you know.”

I nodded, managing a small smile in return. There were no words that felt right in that moment. She had caused me so much pain. But standing here in the graveyard, with Owen’s memory between us, the bitterness faded just a little.

As we walked back toward the car, the silence between us stretched. We passed a weathered bench, perched on the cliffside with a bre