Chapter 10 - The Horizon of Tomorrow
Later that evening, long after the gala had ended and the ballroom had gone quiet, I stood alone on the private wrap-around terrace of my Manhattan penthouse.
The city skyline stretched out before me in a glittering grid of millions of lights, a vast, complex machine humming with endless possibilities. The autumn wind caught the hem of my blazer, but I didn't shiver. The cold didn't reach me anymore.
My phone chimed in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting a legal update or a foundation report. Instead, it was an alert from the Vance Dynamics secure satellite feed: Telemetry nominal. Orbital payload stable.
I looked up at the deep, star-studded velvet of the night sky. Somewhere out there, the satellite we had launched months ago was circling the earth, carrying a small, indestructible plaque engraved with the names of every woman who had fought back, rebuilt, and reclaimed her world.
A soft, genuine smile touched my lips.
May you like
Arthur was behind bars. Béatrice was forgotten. The dust beneath the bridal bed was nothing more than a distant memory swept away by the wind.
I raised my glass of champagne in a silent, solitary toast to the stars, to the future, and to the unbreakable strength of starting over. The story they had tried to write for me had ended in ruins; the story I wrote for myself was just beginning.
