Chapter 10 - The Family Portrait
That evening, the DeLuca-Holloway estate played host to a quiet, intimate dinner celebrating the successful opening of the foundation.
There were no board members, no federal marshals, and no reporters. Just a family gathered around a long mahogany table lit by candlelight and laughter.
Grace—Maya’s aunt from her mother’s side, who had been safely located and brought back to Chicago with Grant’s assistance—sat across the table, laughing as little Ellie tried to feed her a spoonful of mashed potatoes.
Mrs. Gable sat nearby, smiling warmly as she poured sparkling cider into crystal glasses.
At the head of the table sat Grant and Maya.
The French doors leading to the back garden stood wide open, letting in the sweet, fragrant breeze of a Chicago spring evening. The stars twinkled above the manicured lawn, casting a peaceful, eternal glow over the estate.
Grant raised his glass, looking around the table at the faces of the people he loved most in the world—people he had fought to protect, and who had ultimately saved him from his own isolated empire.
"To family," Grant said softly, his voice warm and deep. "To the ones we find, the ones we keep, and the light that guides us through the dark."
"To family!" everyone echoed, clinking their glasses together in a joyous chorus that rang out into the night.
May you like
Maya looked down at the silver lighthouse pendant resting against her chest, then across the table at Grant, whose eyes were shining with a love so deep and fierce it defied all words.
She smiled—a bright, untroubled, beautiful smile of a child who finally knew what it meant to be safe, to be cherished, and to be truly home.
