Noah froze.
“Wait. Is something wrong?”
She shook her head.
“No, you idiot.”
And she wrapped her arms around him.
I watched my son awkwardly hug her back.
For once, he had absolutely nothing clever to say.
Nearby, Michael thanked him quietly.
But he barely spoke to me.
Grace’s mother, Emily, had died when Grace was very young.
Michael had remarried several years later, but his family remained private.
I had always sensed a certain distance between us.
Sometimes, I wondered whether he disliked Noah’s closeness to his daughter.
That afternoon, however, I tried not to think about it.
Grace was smiling.
Noah was smiling.
And for the first time in months, I felt that something genuinely beautiful had happened.
I assumed the story ended there.
I was wrong.
Part 4 — The Secret Behind the School Auditorium
Back in Principal Whitaker’s office, I stared at Noah.
“You’ve been helping Grace do what?”
