TERMS OF THE HEART
I gave him a simple leather notebook, understanding that a man who'd spent his entire life managing crisis through spreadsheets might eventually want somewhere to record the quieter, more personal thoughts he'd only recently learned to acknowledge having.
"One year," Damien said, turning the notebook over in his hands with visible appreciation. "I never anticipated any of this, walking into my office that particular morning, expecting Griffith to deliver routine legal updates rather than the news that would eventually change my entire life."
"Neither did I," I said. "But I wouldn't trade a single terrifying, complicated moment of how we actually got here."
"No regrets?" Damien asked, echoing