Chapter 10 - Happily Ever After
One year to the day after the locksmith changed the cylinders on Unit 814, the sun rose over the Chicago skyline in a brilliant burst of gold and violet.
I stood on the private balcony of my condo, sipping a cup of coffee and watching the city wake up beneath me. My phone rested on the patio table, completely silent, free of any toxic echoes from the past.
Inside the apartment, the design studio was bathed in soft morning light. On my desk sat a framed photograph from a trip Liam and I had taken to the coast of Maine the previous month—both of us laughing, windblown, and completely free.
There was no engagement ring on a metal tray in the hallway anymore. Instead, on my left hand sat a new ring—a custom-designed platinum band set with a brilliant, flawless sapphire, handcrafted by a local artisan who listened to every single detail I asked for.
Liam stepped out onto the balcony behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin gently on my shoulder.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he whispered, kissing the side of my neck.
I leaned back against him, smiling as I looked out over the city where I had built my career, protected my home, and found a love that required no locks, no secrets, and no fear.
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"Just thinking about how lucky I am," I said softly, turning in his arms to face him. "And how every good story starts with knowing how to keep the wrong people out, so the right one can finally walk through the front door."
Liam smiled, pulling me close as the morning sun warmed the skyline around us, shining brightly on a future that was entirely, beautifully, happily our own.
