Chapter 15 - The Unbroken Circle
The morning briefing room at the Wolf estate was no longer a place of panic and whispered desperation.
When Norah entered alongside Arthur Finch, the twelve regional captains and financial directors sitting around the massive mahogany table immediately fell silent and stood in respectful unison. They didn't see a maid anymore; they saw the woman who had pulled their boss back from the edge of the grave and secured the empire's survival.
At the head of the table sat Gideon Wolf.
He looked healthier than he had in a decade. The color had returned to his skin, his eyes burned with fierce vitality, and his posture was absolute authority incarnate.
As Norah took her seat near the head of the table, Gideon raised his glass of spring water in a silent, respectful toast.
"To vigilance," Gideon said, his voice echoing cleanly through the spacious room.
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"To vigilance," the entire table chorused in unison.
Norah raised her own glass, returning his gaze with steady, unwavering composure. Outside the tall windows, the sun climbed higher into the clear blue sky above Graybridge, bathing the harbor, the city, and the towering estate in warm, unyielding light. The storm was a distant memory, the poison had been swept away, and the empire stood unbreakable, guarded forever by the girl who had recognized the pink ring in the glass.
