Chapter 5 - A New Foundation
Spring came late to Chicago that year, but when it arrived, it broke over Lake Michigan in a rush of bright, golden light and warm lake breezes.
The front gates of the Hart estate no longer felt like prison walls.
Inside the vast gardens, past the manicured hedges and the stone fountains, three-year-old Olivia Reyes was currently directing a very important landscaping project involving a pink plastic shovel, a bucket of dandelions, and a very confused head gardener named Miller.
Daniel stood on the second-floor balcony of the master wing, watching her with his hands in his pockets.
Behind him, sliding glass doors opened softly.
Helena stepped out onto the balcony, carrying two cups of coffee. She handed one to Daniel, her fingers brushing lightly against his. She wore a simple yellow sundress—no apron, no cleaning gloves, no invisible mask.
“Miller is going to quit if she tries to plant those dandelions in the prize rose bed again,” Helena observed, watching Olivia enthusiastically dump dirt over a prized shrub.
“Miller has survived three corporate hostile takeovers and a flooded basement,” Daniel replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “He can survive a three-year-old botanist.”
Daniel turned, leaning his hip against the stone balustrade, and looked down at Helena. Six months had passed since the day the laptop crashed to the Persian rug. Six months since the lies had unraveled and the truth had crawled out from under the desk.
His medical treatments were managing his condition, his doctors were optimistic, and Hart Global Industries was stronger than ever. But none of that was what kept him anchored.
“You know,” Daniel said softly, “I’ve spent the last ten years building walls around myself. I thought if I made the house big enough, and the security tight enough, nothing could hurt me.”
Helena looked up at him, her green eyes catching the morning light. “And did it work?”
“No,” Daniel smiled, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It just kept the right people out.”
Down in the garden, Olivia suddenly looked up toward the balcony, spotted them both, and waved both arms frantically in the air, shouting something unintelligible about a worm.
Helena laughed, leaning into Daniel’s side as he wrapped a strong arm around her waist.
“Come on,” Helena whispered, smiling up at him. “Let’s go see what she’s destroyed this time.”
May you like
“Lead the way,” Daniel said.
And together, they walked down the stairs, leaving the shadows behind them, into a house that finally sounded like a home.
