Home At Last
Delicate pink blossoms scattered across the dirt, trampled underfoot, ground into dust.
Staring at the ruin before me, decades of memories surged back like a tidal wave, drowning me.
The butler was right.
Nathan loving me—that was a very, very long time ago. Ten years ago, his heart belonged to no one but me. When we first met, he bid on my first night and bought my freedom.
He took on his family's punishment, enduring their opposition, just to marry me.
Back then, he held me close and whispered, "Elena, from now on, I'll never let you be alone again."