Page 125 of Hunted By the Lost Heir

I am the woman wearing the ring he chose for me.

I am the woman this man chose at a kitchen island in West 12th, and in an alley in Queens, and in a study in the Hudson Valley, and tonight at a table he was raised to hate.

I am the woman who chose him back at 6:14 a.m. in a Catskills kitchen and has been choosing him every morning since.

Eleni. I did it.

I tipmy head against his shoulder.

Sofia settles against the top of his head.

The Sound is dark.

We stand there until Clara opens the door and tells us dessert is ready.

I built the architecture.

I stayed.

THE END