Chapter 10 - The Yellow Room
The yellow room was bathed in the soft, warm glow of a bedside lamp shaped like a crescent moon.
Hand-painted stars drifted across the pale yellow walls, and a mobile of wooden birds hung silently from the ceiling, stirred only by the gentle breeze coming through the open window.
Adrian sat in the comfortable rocking chair beside the crib, cradling Lily against his chest until her breathing slowed into the deep, rhythmic cadence of sleep. With infinite care, he lowered her into the crib, tucking the soft cotton blanket around her shoulders.
He stood there for a long time, looking down at her peaceful face.
She had Evelyn’s nose, Evelyn’s calm determination, and the fierce, unyielding spirit of a family that had survived the worst winter the world could throw at them.
Adrian reached into his pocket and touched the cold metal of Thomas Kane’s silver signet ring, then pulled out Evelyn’s folded letter. He didn’t open it. He simply held it against his chest for a moment before turning toward the door.
As he stepped out into the hallway, he noticed a light shining from the open door of the master study at the far end of the wing.
He walked down the corridor and stepped inside.
The room was neat, the mahogany desk organized, the old ledgers locked away in a secure vault where they belonged. But resting right in the center of the desk was a small, framed charcoal sketch of a field filled with white flowers—a sketch Evelyn had drawn during her first month at the university in Madison, before she had ever met a ruthless businessman named Adrian Vale.
At the bottom of the sketch, written in Evelyn’s bold, elegant handwriting, were six simple words:
Winter always yields to spring.
Adrian walked over to the desk, picked up the frame, and traced the glass with his thumb.
Downstairs, the house was quiet. In the sunroom, Titan let out a contented sigh as he curled up on his rug. Outside, the white roses in the garden swayed gently in the midnight breeze, silver under the light of a full moon.
May you like
Adrian set the frame back down, turned off the desk lamp, and walked out of the study, leaving the door wide open.
He didn't need locks anymore. The house was finally safe, the shadows were gone, and the heir of the Vale estate was sleeping peacefully in the yellow room.
