12

Several months later and once everything had finally passed, Vincent took the time to process everything that came in his path. Eventually choosing to leave all of the physical memories behind; by promptly closing the shop, donating several items to a local museum, and towards the end, choosing to sell the house before moving away. Although the secrets he had unearthed belonged to a man he never did identify with, the hard truth about his grandfather's past identity required healing despite what he knew of the same person that raised him.

On the same day a realtor was supposed to stop by and appraise the value of the house; Vincent was still in the process of packing boxes, separating items that would go into storage and others to a landfill. While moving the large desk he was forced to pry open and destroy, a crumpled letter fell to his feet. To his tremendous surprise, Mrs. Reichenbach's name appeared printed at the bottom, a clear confirmation that she had been in communication with his grandfather several months prior to Vincent's return. Moreover, he finally understood why the funds were never debited from his bank account.

Although the letter was short, the language and context suggested that it had been part of a mutual correspondence composed of several others. To his initial surprise however, not only did it reveal that she was aware all along of the real identity Lorenzo Baroni kept from the world, but had used the compelling evidence she possessed as a threat, on the grounds that he should confess and pay for his crimes, without calculating that he would take his life instead.

The thought of irony occurred to him but figured it was only a symptom of circumstance, suggesting fate already had other plans.

In support of everything that transpired, Julio offered to drive his friend back to the lake where Camila and her sister waited to spend another weekend with them. Once there, Vincent decided to pay his respects by finally placing his grandfather's ashes to rest. He found a shallow beach near the lake where the water was clear, only a few birds were near and at times, everything seemed to stand still.

Barefoot and with his jeans folded up to his knees, Vincent walked in slowly, as if to not disturb the peace that surrounded him. Reliving his fondest memories, he released the remains and watched as the current underneath swallowed them in just a blink, dissipating them within.

Looking out into the horizon, Vincent stood there unable to move while he contemplated all the unknowns. Despite the undeniable truth, he chose to forgive him and make his peace; knowing well that his grandfather's old identity had died in the war, while the man that survived tried his best to redeem what was left of him beyond his tortured soul.

The End