Chapter 10 - New Beginnings
A year later, the house felt entirely like mine again.
I had remodeled the kitchen, ripping out everything Margaret had touched and replacing it with sleek, dark marble and brass fixtures. The dining room table, where I was once told to kneel, was now the centerpiece of joyous dinner parties with my friends, colleagues, and people who actually respected me.
My business was booming. The software consulting firm had expanded internationally, and I had just closed the biggest deal of my career.
It was a Sunday evening, the exact one-year anniversary of the basin incident. I stood on my back patio, holding a glass of expensive champagne, looking out over the manicured lawn. The sunset was painting the sky in brilliant hues of gold and violet.
The quiet in my life was no longer a sign of submission. It was a sign of absolute peace.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It wasn't a bank alert. It was a text from a handsome architect I had been dating for the past three months, asking if I wanted to fly to Paris for the weekend.
May you like
I smiled, took a sip of the crisp champagne, and typed back: Only if I'm buying the tickets.
I locked my phone, stepped back inside my beautiful, entirely paid-off house, and closed the door. I had survived the fire, and in the end, I was the one holding all the matches.
