, had been like a

l from the foster system, the one who guided me to

venport family matr

hat' s how I enter

ld be a grounding infl

money, philanthropic, a

er, but Eleanor

thing Ethan, in his charming

s dominated by C

azzling, ambitious girl who h

e left for Paris, choosing career

fully m

s I walked down the

his eyes, the way her name would

acknowledged, a small, persistent

' s dying wish

ered, her voice frail, "I wan

cal, ever kind to me

ng a way to prove Chloe wrong, or m

terms clear

ent, the divorce clau

arrangement dresse

ust companionship, and an

cce

was ther

a home, something

olish, hopeful part, bel

e, could somehow reach through his defenses

er of a dream, but it was e

that Chloe had married someone in Euro

se dawn, I s

.. considerat

asking about my day at

not in strained silence, b

, a casual gesture, but it w

trying, committing to this

rts were working, that he was final

e a period of fr

d he' d be there, maybe reading in t

hythm, a comfort

a wife, not just a si

felt lik

ream of a future, a r

e culmination of that fragile hope, a sign that mayb

ad shattered that ill