Chapter 89
I Still Have Time to Fix This
I wouldn't let their fabricated shame become my truth. I wouldn't let my mother's devastated face be the last image I carried from this house.
Standing in the hallway, the anchor's poisonous words still echoing from the television, something cold and clear settled in my chest. This wasn't panic anymore. It was resolve.
I needed my degree.
Not just for work. Not just for Doctor Merrill. I needed that official, stamped piece of parchment like a shield I could hold up to the world. Proof. Something legal. Something unarguable. The only thing that could stand between me and the word criminal they were trying to carve into my name.
"Mother, I can't explain everything now," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. I reached for her hands, clasping her cold, trembling fingers. "But trust me. I will fix this. Once I'm back from the countryside with my certificate, everything will look different."
