I nodded.
Then Tyler said something that stuck with me.
“You didn’t just get revenge, Felix. You ended the cycle.”
That hit me harder than I expected.
Because he was right.
I hadn’t just exposed them.
I’d stopped it from touching Lucas.
From teaching him that love comes with conditions or that respect means silence.
I’d broken something toxic that had been passed down quietly for decades.
Later that summer, Lucas and I took a trip.
Nothing fancy, just a cabin by a lake a few hours away.
We spent our days fishing, skipping rocks, roasting marshmallows.
No phones.
No noise.
No ghosts from the past.
One evening, as the sun set over the water, Lucas said, “Dad, this is my favorite day ever.”
I smiled.
“Yeah? What makes it your favorite?”
He thought for a moment.
“Because it feels like everything’s okay.”
I looked out at the orange horizon, the reflection shimmering across the lake, and realized he was right.
