Chapter 20 - The Refuge Hotel
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Sixteen months later, the coastal air was warm and smelled of sea salt. I stood on the sprawling, sunlit terrace of Halcyon’s newest property. It was not a luxury resort for billionaires. It was a beautifully restored, highly secure refuge hotel designed specifically to provide temporary housing, legal support, and job training to women escaping domestic abuse.
Sunlight spread brightly across the crashing waves of the ocean below.
A lot had changed in a year and a half. Adrian was currently serving a lengthy prison sentence in a federal facility after finally pleading guilty to avoid a messy public trial. Celeste’s historic mansion had been seized by the government, and she now lived in a small, rented apartment, working a mundane office job under a strict restitution order. The Vale name, once proudly displayed on the banners of elite charity galas, had become a cautionary tale in financial compliance seminars.
I reached up and touched my cheek. The scar from his ring had faded to a barely visible white line, easily hidden. My life had not grown smaller without him. It had expanded. It had healed. It had finally, truly become mine.
Marcus, dressed in a sharp suit and looking as protective as ever, approached me on the terrace holding the opening-day guest list on a tablet.
"We are ready whenever you are, Ms. Ward," Marcus said with a warm, respectful nod.
I looked out at the endless expanse of the sea, taking a deep breath of the free air, and then looked toward the front gates. Women were beginning to arrive, walking through heavy oak doors that no man would ever be allowed to force closed again.
May you like
I smiled—not through tears this time, but through absolute peace.
"Open them," I said.
