Chapter 4 - The House on the HillSix months later, the spring air in Indianapolis was warm, sweet, and filled with the scent of blooming magnolias and fresh-cut grass.
I stood on the wide stone veranda of the sprawling, sunlit estate overlooking the city, holding a squealing, laughing fourteen-month-old Sophie in my arms as she tried to catch floating soap bubbles.
Behind me, the heavy oak doors of the house opened, and heavy, familiar footsteps crossed the patio.
A pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me gently back against a solid chest. Ethan rested his chin on my shoulder, kissing my cheek just beneath my ear.
— You’ve been staring at the skyline for twenty minutes, boss lady, — Ethan murmured, his voice rich with quiet amusement. — What are you thinking about?
I smiled, leaning back into his embrace and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand where it rested over my stomach.
— I was just thinking about a digital clock that read 12:24 a.m., a banking app that showed three dollars and eighteen cents, and a wrong-number text message that changed the entire trajectory of my life, — I whispered softly.
Ethan chuckled, tightening his hold around us both.
— Best wrong number in human history, if you ask me.
Inside the house, soft piano music played from the living room, and the gentle afternoon breeze ruffled the curtains of the nursery upstairs where Sophie’s room was filled with toys, books, and a mountain of stuffed animals—including the little gray rabbit Ethan had brought her on the night we met.
Marcus Reynolds was currently serving a federal prison sentence in Terre Haute, stripped of his wealth, his prestige, and his freedom, forgotten by the corporate world that had once worshipped him. His mother had sold the Boulder estate and retreated into bitter obscurity.
They no longer existed in our calculations.
Down in the driveway, the sleek black SUV sat parked beside my new car—a reliable, top-of-the-line model with a fully functional transmission.
Sophie let out a delighted squeal, clapping her tiny hands together as a giant soap bubble popped against her nose.
— Look, Mama! — she babbled, pointing out toward the endless blue horizon of the Indiana sky.
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I looked up, my heart overflowing with a fierce, unbreakable peace.
I hadn't just survived the coldest, darkest night of my life. I had walked through the fire, and on the other side, I had found a love, a family, and a kingdom that could never be shaken.
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