Chapter 7 - Unbroken and Forever HomeAt 8:30 PM, as the autumn sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of indigo and gold, the private terrace was illuminated by dozens of soft, twinkling fairy lights.
Sixteen-year-old Ethan walked up the terrace steps, wearing a tailored suit, holding a camera, his face bright with health and happiness.
"Michael! Sarah!" Ethan cheered, waving his hand toward the lawn. "Come take a photo before the fireworks start!"
Michael wrapped his broad arm securely around my waist, pulling me flush against his side, as we walked down the stone steps onto the green lawn beside my brother.
Across the dark, sparkling water, brilliant bursts of gold, sapphire, and silver light exploded into the night sky, illuminating the smiling faces of our guests gathered on the lawn.
There were no mean managers complaining about two minutes. There were no loan sharks making threats over phones. There were no tears swallowed in quiet breakrooms.
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The exhausted, desperate girl counting dollars in the rain was dead forever. The sovereign matriarch had claimed her throne.
And standing under the vast, unbroken sky, wrapped in the arms of the man who loved every inch of my body and soul, holding my brother's future safe in our hands, I knew that my life, my heart, and my family were finally, beautifully, and forever home.
