sed. Five

lwind of questi

y degree, st

, I' d see n

logies, had soared. He was

e, in photos from galas,

d happy, s

ture had allowed him to thrive, to be with

come true. My sac

he cal

health was failing.

o question

ous law firm back on the East Coast through a family connection.

pping back into

nto a new school, visiting my grandfather in the h

ned at a charity gala

but Mark insisted it w

across the

ha

seemed it, his presence com

ilted towards Chloe, who wa

arm, a casual, i

eath

o that, rest my han

nful

anned the room a

er died on

ardened, became

, her perfectly shaped

lush creep

d to di

proach. I di

mething unspoken, a hist

of something I couldn't decipher – anger? surpris

more than

. Or at least, re

t I wanted, what

still