Chapter 10
Time slowed down.
Emily saw Elias’s finger tighten on the trigger.
She saw Noah’s eyes widen, knowing he didn’t have time to fire first.
She didn’t think.
She acted.
She stepped out from behind the wall, throwing the heavy glass vase she’d grabbed from the hallway table as hard as she could at Elias’s head.
It hit him square in the temple.
Elias staggered, his gun going off, the bullet hitting the ceiling inches from Noah’s head.
Noah fired.
Twice.
Both shots hit Elias in the chest.
Elias collapsed to the floor, gasping, blood spreading across his shirt.
Noah ran to Emily, pulling her into his arms.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
Emily shook her head, her whole body shaking.
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
They heard running footsteps outside.
Tom and the security team, guns drawn, bursting through the door.
“Mr. Whitman! Are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Noah said. “Call an ambulance. And the police. Elias is down.”
He knelt beside Elias, who was still breathing, shallow ragged gasps.
Elias looked up at him, blood bubbling from his lips.
“Dad...” he whispered. “He told me... he loved me... before he died. Said I was his son... no matter what.”
He coughed, more blood.
“I just wanted... him to be proud of me.”
His eyes went blank.
He was gone.
The ambulance arrived ten minutes later, followed by the police.
They took Elias’s body away.
Took statements.
Told Noah it was self-defense.
No charges would be filed.
It was over.
Really over.
They went back to Chicago a week later.
The city felt different now.
Brighter.
Safer.
Noah threw himself back into work at Whitman Group, launching a new foundation for domestic violence survivors in Emily’s name.
Ava took a job running the foundation, finally finding her purpose.
Emily went back to teaching, taking a job at a private school in the city, her classroom filled with kids who loved her.
Lily grew fast, walking, talking, calling Noah “Dada” every chance she got.
Six months after Elias died, Noah proposed.
They were on the balcony of the penthouse, watching the sunset over the lake, Lily playing on the rug at their feet.
Noah got down on one knee, pulling out a small velvet box.
“Emily Harper,” he said, his voice thick. “I love you. I love Lily like she’s my own. I’ve spent the last six months watching you be the strongest, bravest, most amazing woman I’ve ever known. I don’t want to spend another day without you as my wife. Will you marry me?”
Emily cried, nodding so hard her hair fell in her face.
“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.”
He slipped the ring on her finger—simple, elegant, a single diamond that sparkled in the sunset.
Lily crawled over, clapping her hands.
“Mama! Dada! Wedding!”
They both laughed, picking her up, holding her between them.
The wedding was small, held in the backyard of Victoria’s estate in Lake Forest.
Victoria walked Emily down the aisle, crying the whole way.
Ava was the maid of honor.
Lily was the flower girl, scattering rose petals down the aisle, stopping halfway to pick up a bug and show it to the minister.
Noah cried when Emily walked toward him.
Emily cried when he said his vows.
Everyone cried when Lily said “I do” right along with them, making the whole crowd laugh.
That night, after the reception, after everyone had gone home, they sat on the porch of the estate, watching the stars come out over the lake.
Lily was asleep in Noah’s arms, her head on his shoulder.
Emily rested her head on his shoulder too, looking at her ring, still unable to believe it was real.
“Remember that plane?” she said quietly. “I thought my life was over that day. I thought I’d never be happy again.”
Noah kissed the top of her head.
“Me too. I was just going through the motions. Running the company, going to meetings, existing. Not living. Then you sat down next to me. And everything changed.”
He paused, smiling.
“You know, I almost didn’t ask you to pretend to sleep on my shoulder. I thought you’d slap me.”
Emily laughed.
“I almost did. But then I looked at you. And I saw how scared you were. And I knew... I knew you were a good man. The kind of man who would protect me. Who would love us.”
She looked up at him.
“I love you, Noah Whitman. More than anything.”
“I love you too, Emily Whitman. Forever.”
They sat there for a long time, silent, holding each other, holding their daughter.
They’d been through hell.
Had almost lost everything.
But they’d fought.
Together.
And they’d won.
Somewhere in the distance, a plane flew overhead, its lights blinking in the dark.
A reminder of where they’d started.
Of the stranger who’d asked for a strange favor.
Of the lie that had turned into the truest love either of them had ever known.
And as the stars shone down on them, Emily knew.
No matter what came next.
May you like
They would face it together.
As a family.
