Aliana’s POV

I watched her with a soft smile, my heart swelling with warmth. It was moments like these that made everything worth it—the battles we had fought, the choices we had made. Bella was free to grow up in a world untouched by the darkness we had once known.

The sun had started to dip lower in the sky, casting a golden glow over the playground as the laughter of children filled the air. Bella, with her tiny hands gripping the edge of the sandbox, giggled as she played with a little girl she had just met. They had spent the last hour building small sandcastles, their innocent joy...