Chapter 10 - The First Sunrise
Six months after the wedding that changed the course of history, I woke up before dawn.
The air outside was crisp, carrying the crisp promise of spring. I walked out onto the front porch of the house on Juniper Avenue wrapped in a thick wool blanket, holding a steaming mug of black coffee.
The scars on my forehead had faded into a faint, silvery line—a small reminder of a battle fought and won, a battle broadcast to five million strangers who had witnessed my blood and refused to let me be erased.
As the first golden rays of the sun crested the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of amber, rose, and violet, I looked down at the polished brass key hanging securely on a chain around my neck.
May you like
The chandelier in the Grand Ballroom had crashed down in metaphorical ruins months ago, taking my old life with it. But out of those shards, I had built something unbreakable, something entirely my own.
I took a sip of my coffee, smiled into the morning breeze, and finally stepped forward into a future that belonged to no one else in the world except me.
