The jury found her guilty.
The ending wasn’t clean.
Trauma never is.
Emma still flinched during fire drills.
I still checked exits in restaurants.
But we survived, and survival gave us choices.
I sold Mom’s townhouse after the repairs and put most of the money into a college fund for Emma. With the rest, I opened a small bakery in Brooklyn called Second Door, because the basement exit had saved my life.
On opening day, Emma drew a sign for the counter:
Always know the way out.
I framed it.
Vanessa had locked us inside to take everything from me.
