Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

EMMAI drove to Maya's apartment because I needed to talk to someone who wasn't Adrian or involved in any of this mess.Maya opened the door looking surprised. "Emma, what's wrong?"I told her everything, the board's offer, Adrian's confession about Luca, and my complete confusion about what to do next."That's a lot," Maya said when I finished, handing me tea we'd made while I talked. "How do you feel about the Luca thing?""Betrayed," I said immediately. "He asked me to be honest and vulnerable while he was keeping this massive secret.""Did he actually lie or did he just not tell you?" Maya asked."Is there a difference?" I countered."Maybe," Maya said. "I'm not defending him, but there's a difference between actively lying and just not volunteering information about past relationships.""It wasn't past," I said. "It was ongoing while we were together.""Oh," Maya said, her face falling. "That's different."We sat in silence drinking tea while I tried to organize my thoughts."Do

EMMAThe restitution fund distribution took three months to finalize and by the end we'd compensated sixty-eight people who'd been directly harmed by my father's actions.The media coverage shifted from skeptical to supportive and several other companies announced similar accountability initiatives, which felt like we'd actually changed something."Last payment goes out today," Maya said, pulling up the final transfer. "And we have about two hundred thousand left over.""Put it toward the administrative costs," I said. "And anything remaining goes to a financial literacy nonprofit."Maya made notes and I felt something settle in my chest, we'd actually finished what we started.Adrian appeared in the doorway looking excited. "We got the final approval on the new venture."Three weeks earlier we'd filed paperwork to start our own consulting firm focused on corporate accountability and ethical business practices, and we'd been waiting on regulatory approval."We're official?" I asked."

EMMAThe wedding planning turned out to be more complicated than either of us expected."Your mother wants to come," Adrian said, showing me the email. "She's asking if it would be appropriate."I read through the message and felt my stomach tighten. "What do you want?""I don't know," Adrian admitted. "Part of me thinks she doesn't deserve to be there and part of me thinks maybe this is a chance to actually have a relationship with her.""Then invite her," I said. "But make it clear she's there as a guest, not as someone who gets input on our lives."Adrian nodded and typed a response while I went back to arguing with the florist about centerpieces.Maya knocked on the office door. "You have a visitor. She says she's your aunt?"I looked up confused. "I don't have an aunt.""She says she's your mother's sister," Maya clarified. "Patricia Morrison."The name meant nothing to me but I told Maya to send her in.The woman who entered was in her sixties with the same eyes my mother had in

EMMAThe wedding day started with rain and I took it as a sign that maybe we should have postponed after all.Patricia arrived early to help me get ready and found me staring out the window at the gray sky."Your mother got married in the rain too," Patricia said. "She said it was good luck.""Did it bring her good luck?" I asked."She got you," Patricia said simply. "So yes, I'd say it did."Maya came in with my dress and helped me into it while Patricia did my makeup, and by the time I looked in the mirror I almost felt like a bride instead of someone about to walk into a battlefield."You're beautiful," Maya said, and I saw tears in her eyes."Don't cry or I'll cry," I said, but I was already tearing up.Downstairs I could hear guests arriving despite the rain and the media circus parked outside our gates, and I felt gratitude that forty people had shown up anyway.Helen knocked on the door. "It's time."I walked downstairs and found Adrian waiting at the bottom looking nervous in

EMMAAdrian's mother died two weeks after our conversation at the hospital, peacefully in her sleep with Adrian holding her hand.The funeral was small because she hadn't stayed in touch with many people, and watching Adrian grieve for a mother he'd barely known made my chest ache."I don't know if I'm allowed to be this sad," Adrian said the night after the funeral. "I only really knew her for a few months.""You're grieving what could have been," I said. "That's allowed.""It feels stupid," Adrian said. "She abandoned me and now I'm crying like she was mother of the year.""She was still your mother," I said. "And grief doesn't follow logic."Adrian pulled me close and I felt him crying against my shoulder, and I held him while he processed everything.The next morning Maya arrived with news that Corso had dropped all the lawsuits."All of them?" Adrian asked, not believing it."Every single one," Maya confirmed. "His lawyer sent a notice of voluntary dismissal on all pending cases.