Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Bridge
Two years later.
Spring had arrived in Lake Forest, turning the forty-acre estate into a paradise of green lawns, blooming cherry blossoms, and clear blue skies.
The iron gates of the compound stood open, welcoming a long line of cars belonging to guests attending the annual charity gala for the Tyler Reed Pediatric Heart Foundation—a non-profit organization founded by Dominic and Clara to fund life-saving surgeries for underprivileged children across Chicago.
Inside the grand foyer where the eighteenth nanny had once fled screaming, music played softly from a live string quartet.
Guests in elegant tuxedos and gowns milled about the marble hall, admiring the restored artwork and fine architecture.
Dominic Vale stood near the grand staircase, wearing a pristine black tuxedo, holding a glass of champagne. Standing beside him was Clara, looking breathlessly beautiful in an ivory silk gown, her hand resting warmly in his.
Running across the marble floor toward them was six-year-old Noah, wearing a small tuxedo, holding the hand of his three-year-old baby sister, Sarah, who wore a fluffy pink dress.
"Dad! Clara! Look! Sarah built a block tower in the drawing room!" Noah shouted proudly.
Dominic dropped down onto one knee—the powerful crime lord lowered before his children—and pulled both Noah and little Sarah into his broad arms, kissing their foreheads.
"Did it fall down, buddy?" Dominic asked warmly.
"No!" Noah beamed, looking up at Clara with dark, happy eyes that were completely free of shadows. "Because we built it like a bridge!"
Clara smiled down at her family, leaning against the banister, her hand touching the polished wood where a heavy bronze horse had once chipped the surface years ago.
The scar on the wood was still there if you looked closely—a quiet, subtle reminder of the pain that had once filled this house.
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But as Clara looked at her husband, her children, and the bright, sunlit hall filled with music and laughter, she knew that the scar no longer mattered.
The dark was gone. The bridge was built. And the house of Vale was finally whole.
