I should follow lover, once helping to find forgiveness (11)
I believe the answer is:
exoneration
'forgiveness' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'i should follow lover once helping' is the wordplay.
'i' becomes 'one' (Roman numeral for one).
'should follow' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (some letters go after others).
'lover once' becomes 'ex' (an ex-lover).
'helping' becomes 'ration' (a ration is a serving or helping).
'one' after 'ex' is 'exone'.
'exone'+'ration'='EXONERATION'
'to find' is the link.
(Other definitions for exoneration that I've seen before include "Act of absolving from blame" , "get acquittal" .)