Two days after the press conference, the O’Connell estate was quiet again. The media had packed up, the headlines had slowed, and the world moved on to its next scandal.
But inside Lena’s heart, something new had taken root—certainty.
She stood on the balcony of her and Carson’s bedroom, arms resting on the cold railing, watching the city glitter in the distance. The world she had once feared now looked small from up here. Not because she had conquered it—but because she had outgrown her fear of it.
Carson walked out behind her, slipping a hand around her waist. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“I’m not tired,” she replied softly. “Just...thinking.”
He pressed his chin to her shoulder. “Regret?”
“No. Reflection.” She leaned into him. “I’ve been thinking about the girls who wrote to me. The ones Kenny showed me this morning on his tablet. From Cape Town. Manila. Lagos. Saying I gave them hope.”
Carson smiled. “That’s impact.”
“But I want it to last. Not just go viral and vanish like a trending topic.
