She looked back at her mother.
“My hands are clean,” she said.
Rosa knelt beside her.
“Even when they’re messy, you are still good.”
Lily smiled and pressed both palms into the garden soil.
Then she lifted them, brown with earth, and laughed.
Ethan looked down at the flawless marble beneath his shoes.
For most of his life, he had believed success meant creating a world without disorder.
That morning taught him something wealth never had.
A spotless house could still hide cruelty.
And a child with dirt on her hands could be the cleanest soul inside it.
