Chapter 20 - The Unbreakable Horizon
I drove back to the Sterling estate just as the sun began to set.
The massive stone mansion was bathed in a brilliant, fiery golden light. The heavy wrought-iron gates swung open smoothly, welcoming me home.
I walked through the front doors, greeted by the warm, echoing silence of a house that was finally, truly at peace.
I made my way down the long hallway and pushed open the heavy oak doors of my father's study.
The room was perfect. The books were aligned, the leather was polished, and the massive mahogany desk sat waiting in the center of the room.
I walked over to the bay windows, looking out over the sprawling, perfectly manicured lawns of my family's estate.
I thought about the terrified, bleeding girl who had been pinned to the marble floor of a hotel kitchen. I thought about the sheer, agonizing despair I had felt when I believed the entire world had turned against me.
But out of that absolute nightmare, I had forged a paradise.
I had exposed the monsters, I had reclaimed my kingdom, and I had built a future that was entirely my own.
I sat down in the heavy leather chair. I opened the files for the new national expansion, picked up my pen, and smiled.
May you like
The darkness was permanently gone. The horizon was brilliant, endless, and completely unbroken.
And for the rest of my life, I was entirely, beautifully free.
