One by one, the dean called their names.
Ava crossed the polished oak stage first. True to her nature, tears were already running down her flushed face before her hand even touched the leather-bound diploma.
Claire came next, almost shaking with joy. She stopped dead in the center of the stage, ignoring the rigid protocol, and waved hard in my direction as if she were still an eight-year-old spotting me in the hardware store aisles.
Finally, June approached the podium. She did not smile. She took her degree with that familiar, unnerving gravity, her dark eyes moving across the huge crowd with a fierce, measuring focus.
I lowered my camera and let out a long, shaking breath. We had done the impossible. We had reached the finish line. I prepared to pick up my worn jacket and work through the chaotic rows of folding chairs to find them in the lobby.
But the steady rhythm of the ceremony broke.
The dean, a formidable man in heavy academic velvet, stepped back from the central podium and gestured toward the microphone with a confused, hesitant motion.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the dean’s voice echoed uncertainly through the state-of-the-art sound system. “We possess a slight deviation from our scheduled program. We have one final, unorthodox presentation before we officially conclude this commencement.”
A restless murmur moved through the thousands of people.
I froze, my hand hovering over the zipper of my jacket.
From the shadowed wings of the stage, three figures appeared. Ava, Claire, and June walked back into the hard glare of the theatrical lights. They moved in complete, shared rhythm.
They came to the center microphone. June stepped forward and adjusted the heavy iron stand until it lined up with her mouth. Her face was carved from ice.
“Our biological father was entirely incapable of attending this ceremony today,” June projected, her voice ringing with a cold, terrifying authority that instantly silenced the restless auditorium.
My heart stalled in my chest. The embargo had been broken. The ghost was being pulled into the light.
Ava stepped up beside her sister. With shaking fingers, she reached into the dark, sweeping folds of her graduation gown. She pulled out a heavily folded, aged piece of parchment.
