Chapter 6 - The Unwritten Future
Six months later, the rain in Chicago was different. It didn't feel like a threat; it felt like a cleansing.
Miles was walking again, his strength returning with every passing day. He was safe, he was happy, and he was finally free of the shadow of our father’s name.
I stood on the balcony of a small villa, looking out over the city. A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, the touch familiar, grounding, and absolute. Dante stepped out beside me, his usual stern expression replaced by a rare, genuine smile.
"They're gone, you know," he said softly. "The life, the threats, the debt. It’s all gone."
"I know," I said, leaning back into him. "I don't think I'll ever stop being grateful, but I'm ready to stop looking over my shoulder."
May you like
He turned me around, his eyes searching mine with a vulnerability he only ever showed me. "We have a clean slate, Serena. No contracts. No sales. Just a life we build together, day by day."
I took his hand, the same hand I had reached for in the chapel when I chose my own destiny. The diamonds were long gone, replaced by a simple gold band—a symbol of a choice, not a price. As the sun set over the city that had once tried to destroy us, I realized I hadn't just been saved from the altar. I had been given the chance to finally write my own story, and for the first time in my life, the ending was exactly what I wanted it to be.
