Chapter 25 - THE SPACE BETWEEN FATHER AND SON
Planned length: 1,000 words
Months later.
Vanessa is gone from the Cole family and faces the consequences of the financial investigation.
Daniel is rebuilding his life without her.
Richard has returned home, but his relationship with Daniel remains changed.
Daniel comes to visit.
There is no dramatic embrace.
They sit across from each other.
Daniel notices Richard's mouth.
The cut has long healed.
The memory has not.
Daniel says:
“I don't expect you to forget.”
Richard answers:
“Good. Because I won't.”
Then, after a long silence:
“But you can sit down.”
Daniel does.
The ending is restrained rather than sugary.
Father and son have not magically repaired everything.
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But Daniel is finally doing what he failed to do on the night that destroyed them:
He sits down and listens.
