Chapter 6 - The Unveiling
On Mia’s fourth birthday, Adrien hosted a party. It wasn't a ballroom event with elites and champagne. It was a backyard party at his private estate in the country. There were no senators or tech moguls. There were children from the neighborhood, the staff and their families, and the people who had truly supported them.
He stood on the patio, watching Mia run through the sprinklers with her hair grown back, her curls bouncing in the sun. She looked just like Elena.
Margaret Whitaker, the family matriarch, walked up beside him and placed a hand on his arm. "She has your eyes, Adrien."
"She has Elena’s soul," he replied.
"You’ve changed," Margaret noted. "You’re finally breathing."
"I was dead for three years, Margaret. I just didn't know it."
Adrien walked over to Rosa, who was standing by the refreshment table, watching Mia with a look of pure, unadulterated joy.
"You’re a good woman, Rosa," Adrien said. "You saved me, too."
"I just wanted to do what was right," she said.
May you like
"Most people don't," Adrien said. "But you did."
The party felt like a baptism. The ghosts of the past—the accident, the resentment, the empty mansion—were finally laid to rest. In their place stood a future that was imperfect, chaotic, and wonderfully alive.
