Chapter 10 - A New Dawn
The sun was fully setting over Arlington by the time I prepared to leave. The sky had turned a deep, bruised purple, streaked with veins of brilliant gold and orange. The wet marble of the headstones caught the dying light, glowing like quiet embers in the dusk.
I walked back down the empty stone path toward the cemetery gates, my boots clicking softly against the pavement. The iron gate stood open now, no longer a barrier keeping me away from my family, but a passage leading me toward my future.
I stopped at the exit and looked back one last time.
My grandfather was finally at peace, resting alongside the heroes he had served with. The truth had been revealed, the betrayal had been answered, and the Whitaker name had been restored to its rightful place of honor.
I looked down at the heavy silver ring on my finger.
For five years, it had been a secret anchor, a hidden reminder of who I was and who I was fighting for. Now, I didn't have to hide it anymore. I was Avery Whitaker. I was a sister, a granddaughter, a soldier, and a leader.
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The weight of the world was still on my shoulders, but as I walked out through the gates and into the quiet evening air, the burden felt infinitely lighter.
I was no longer the girl who disappeared. I was the girl who came home.
