Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 272

Hester had always possessed a natural flair for art, a talent pushed to its absolute limits by her mother Miranda’s high-pressure, perfectionist upbringing. A simple portrait sketch was nothing; she finished it in minutes.

"All done." Hester set the crayon down and held up the paper, beaming at him. "Take a look, Caden. Does it look like you?"

Caden’s mouth fell open in awe. It looked exactly like him!

"You're awfully quiet," Hester teased gently. "Did I not get it right?"

"N-no..." Caden panicked a little, waving his small hands. He looked at her, stumbling over his words. "G-Godmother, it... it looks just like me."

Her eyes crinkled with amusement. "Do you like it?"

His face flushed again before he gave a shy, definitive nod.

"Then it's yours." Hester chuckled. Before he could even process it, she was holding the drawing out to him.

Caden stared at the paper, hesitating.

"What are you waiting for?" she urged playfully. "If you like it, take it!"

Only then did he slowly raise his hands to accept it.

Watching his cautious, timid movements—even worse than before—broke Hester’s heart. He was such a sweet, well-behaved child, yet he had suffered so much because of the selfishness and grudges of the adults around him.

Caden traced the lines of his own face on the paper with a delicate finger. Hester reached out and gently stroked his hair.

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