https://youtu.be/oucDvr4YMnA

A/N: Play this video throughout the chapter ;)

Three years later...

Mrs Smith P.O.V

I was at the burial ground, where my family's graves were laid, one beside the other. It was hard to accept that the only family I'd ever known, were now all dead.

I had hardly begun to accept Olivia's loss, and then Logan died, followed by Ethan. 

It all happened so quickly, that I didn't have time to process any of the news. Even though it's been three years, I still miss all of them terribly.

Many people suggested getting re-married to help overcome the loss, but no man could ever replace Logan. Even though he did evil things, he was a great husband. 

Logan had a lot of savings that were passed on to me after his death, so I never had to worry about money. But I eventually moved to a smaller apartment, because it was easier to maintain, besides, the old house was filled with too many memories of them all.

I was upset, and utterly shook when I heard that Olivia was part of a gang, but I couldn't help but blame myself. If I wasn't so busy with my job, maybe I would've noticed what she was doing and helped her out of it.

Was I a bad mother?

These thoughts kept eating me alive, and I knew I needed a distraction. I promised myself never to let depression take over me. This is why I started volunteering at a soup kitchen, I liked doing something that benefited people. 

I looked down at their gravestones.

"I will carry you all with me"

Life in prison sucked. 

I knew deep down that I deserved it, I could've sided with Arya and done the right thing, but I didn't.

Caia was sentenced to life in prison, and I was sentenced to five years for being an accomplice. We were put in different sections so we wouldn't plan anything new. 

I missed her, we hadn't spoken to each other properly after we got arrested. We didn't have anyone to hire us any good lawyers, not that it would've mattered. They had evidence for all the murders she committed, there was no way we were getting out of this.

I'm just happy they didn't hang Caia to death, that would've been way more depressing. 

It was hard adjusting to my new life, I'd always been used to so many luxuries, and I hated living like a peasant. 

We woke up every day, took the most unrelaxing showers you could imagine, were given horrible food to eat and sent back to our cells. 

A lot of people tried to pick on me, but I didn't let that happen. I took self-defence classes, so no one messed with me after the first few times.

I was so bored in there, it's not like I could watch youtube videos all day. But then I realized that prisoners with good behaviour were let to go to the fields, it took me a whole year to realize this and ever since then I've been doing everything I could to stay on their good side. 

It wasn't always easy with people trying to pick on you or sell you drugs and stuff, but I pulled through.

I was finally allowed outside.

The smell of fresh grass hit me like a hammer. This was the first time in years I was out of the dumpy cell and out in the open. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Caia.

"Caia!" I exclaimed and ran towards her.

"OMG! Taylor!" She squealed and gave me a bear hug.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"I'm so sorry" She pleaded, ignoring my question. "I ruined your life"

"Hey, don't say that," I said "I knew the risks of helping you, but I did it anyway"

"I guess you're right," She said wiping the tear next to her eye.

"I have so much I wanna ask you," I said.

"I've missed you so much," She said.

"Same here"

We sat on a bench nearby and started discussing our prison life. We had so much to talk about, but not enough time to do it all.

"All right, time to go," A prison guard said.

"I'll miss you," She said,

"We'll get to come here often, we'll get to talk a lot" I assured her.

She nodded.

"Promise me one thing," She said sternly "You'll try to reduce my sentence when you're out of prison, and won't forget about me"

"Do you really need to ask me that?" I asked "Of course, I'll help you"

"I'm sorry that five years of your life are gonna get wasted like this," She said looking very guilty.

"I'm not suffering," I said.

She gave me a puzzled look.

"As long as I have you, I can do anything"

There was an eerie silence in the room, the only sounds that could be heard were my breathing and the clicks of my laptop. 

After they arrested Caia and Taylor, they held a lot of court hearings to decide their punishment. My parents made me attend them all, it was hard to see the girl I loved in that state.

Three weeks later, the final judgement was announced, Taylor was sentenced to prison for five years and Caia for life. 

They both looked so devastated being separated from each other, and it made my heart sink, maybe now they'd realize how it felt when they separated Ethan from me.

I attended Ethan's funeral, where Mrs Smith asked me to give the eulogy. I thought she'd hate me after she found out the truth, but she didn't. 

I tried to stay back and comfort her as much as I could, but what could you say to someone who lost her entire family in the span of six months?

Eventually, I decided to come back to Dawson City. I always gave that place crap for being so boring and thought going to college in a big city would be fun. But I realized that small-town life was better for me.

I needed a job, but I didn't get anything because I didn't get my degree. I started going to the community college in my town and did graphic design part-time to be able to pay for my own expenses. My parents had spent enough money on me, I didn't wanna bother them any further.

Everyone in town heard about what happened and came by to comfort me, and get all the gossip. I did my best to ignore all the gossip that was being spread about me. I just wanted to focus on making a name for myself.

I didn't wanna be known as "the girl who tried to solve a mystery but failed epically" I wanted to be known as "Arya, the best graphic designer in the world".

I knew that I'd get nothing after dwelling over the past, what's done is done. The only thing I can do is learn from the mistake and move on in life. Start a new chapter.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Author's note: That's the end of this book! I know the ending wasn't really that cool, but I wasn't sure what else to write. Did you guess who the killer was? I'm gonna miss posting every week, and making these drawings 😢 But, I'll write a new book soon! Also, I wanna say thanks to DeathBlade__ for always commenting on my book. It makes me so happy. What are your thoughts on the book as a whole? Will you miss Arya's shenanigans? Anyway, I'm not sure what else to say. Thanks for the support. Bye! 😘😘