Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 313

CHAPTER 175-2

“Because he deserved better.” She said as I frowned.

“From me?” I asked.

“From me.” She said.

“I used to hate how close you were with him because he saw something in you that I didn’t understand.” She explained.

“What did he see?” I asked.

“The real you.” She said as her answer came without hesitation.

“He knew you were strong, but he also knew you were kind, and I spent years convincing myself that kindness made you weak.” She added.

I felt something twist inside me because those words sounded painfully honest.

“I was wrong.” She said and I nodded slowly.

“You were.” I said as Charlotte looked at the flowers.

“I can’t change what I did, but I can change what I do next.” She said.

“That is all you can control.” I said and she smiled faintly.

“That is what I’m learning.” She said.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

I looked at the headstone again, and I thought about Uncle Will’s lessons, his stubbornness, his laughter, and the way he always told me that repairing something required patience.

Maybe people weren’t so different from machines.

Some damage could be repaired. Some things could never be returned to the way they were. Sometimes, however, the best thing you could do was stop making the damage worse.

“I’m still not ready to forgive you completely.” I said and Charlotte nodded.

“I understand.” She said.

“I don’t know when I will be.” I said.

“You don’t have to know.” She said as I looked at her carefully.

“You really are changing.” I said and she gave a small, sad smile.

“I’m trying.” She said.

Those words stayed between us.

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had heard Charlotte promise things before, and I had watched those promises turn into lies.

This time, however, she was not promising anything. She was simply admitting that she was trying.

That difference mattered.

“I will see you at the garage Monday.” I said and she looked surprised.

“You still want me there?” She asked.

“If you keep doing what you have been doing, yes.” I said.

“I will.” She said.

“And Charlotte?” I asked as she stopped.

“Don’t do it for me.” I said as she looked at me.

“Then who should I do it for?” She asked.

“Yourself.” I said and she nodded slowly.

“I think I finally understand.” She said as I stepped back.

“I hope you do.” I said.

Charlotte walked toward her car, and I watched her leave the cemetery without another word.

Claim

There was no hug. There was no dramatic reconciliation. There was no sudden forgiveness because real life didn’t work that way.

There was simply a small step forward.

For now, that was enough.

I returned to my car a few minutes later, and I sat behind the wheel while looking toward Uncle Will’s grave one last time.

“I hope I am doing this right.” I whispered.

The words felt strange because I could almost imagine him answering me and I smiled.

Then I started the engine and drove away.

I didn’t know that someone else had been watching.

At the far end of the cemetery, another vehicle remained parked beneath a large tree.

Victoria sat behind the wheel, her hands resting tightly against it.

She had seen me arrive. She had seen Charlotte standing beside Will’s grave. She had heard enough of our conversation to understand what had happened.

For years, Victoria had watched her daughters hurt each other, and she had spent far too much time believing the version of events that Charlotte had created.

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