Chapter 12
The ballroom was packed.
Five hundred people, all dressed in their finest, all talking, all drinking champagne. The same crystal chandeliers blazed overhead, the same tables glittered with glasses and silver. It looked exactly like the night of the welcome-home party.
But this time, everything was different.
The room went silent when we walked in.
Every eye turned to us. I walked in, no wheelchair, no blanket, my arm in a sling, Clara on my arm. People gasped, whispered, pointed. I saw Uncle Martin in the crowd, his face white. I saw Daniel, my old best friend, staring at me like he couldn’t believe his eyes. I saw the three bribed board members, sitting at a table near the front, their faces tight with fear.
I walked to the stage, Clara beside me, and stepped up to the microphone.
“Good evening,” I said. My voice was loud and clear, echoing through the room. “I know a lot of you are surprised to see me standing here. Three months ago, I was in a terrible car accident. Everyone thought I was paralyzed. Everyone thought I’d never walk again.”
I paused, looking out over the crowd.
“The accident wasn’t an accident,” I said. “It was attempted murder. Organized by my fiancée, Vanessa, and my cousin, Liam. They paid a man to run me off the road. They wanted me dead, or broken, so they could steal my company, steal my money, and live the life they thought they deserved.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“For three months, I pretended to be paralyzed,” I said. “I wanted to see who would stand by me. I wanted to see who was loyal, and who was just waiting for me to die so they could take what was mine. Most of you failed. When Vanessa mocked me in this very room, not a single one of you spoke up. You turned your backs. You looked away. You let her treat me like I was less than human.”
The room was dead silent now. No one dared speak.
“But some of you didn’t,” I said. I turned, holding my hand out to Clara. She stepped forward, taking my hand, standing beside me at the microphone. “This is Clara. She was a maid in my house. No one noticed her. No one cared about her. But when Vanessa mocked me, she was the only one who knelt down and treated me like a human being. She risked her job, her safety, her life, to help me. She gathered evidence. She warned me of their plans. She stood by me when everyone else ran. And when Vanessa tried to shoot me at the airport, she was the one holding me when I thought I was going to die.”
I looked at her, my eyes full of love.
“Clara is the bravest, kindest, most amazing person I have ever known,” I said. “I love her. And I wouldn’t be standing here today without her.”
The crowd erupted in applause, loud and long. Clara blushed, squeezing my hand.
I turned back to the microphone.
“Vanessa and Liam are in police custody,” I said. “They’ll be in prison for a very long time. The company is safe. The people who betrayed me have been fired, or arrested, or both. And I’m back. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. And I’m going to run this company better than ever, with people I can trust by my side.”
I paused, looking out over the crowd again.
“Thank you all for coming,” I said. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”
I stepped away from the microphone, and the applause got even louder. People came up to us, shaking my hand, apologizing, congratulating us. I accepted their apologies with a polite smile, but I didn’t forget. I never would.
Later that night, after the last guest left, Clara and I stood in the empty ballroom, looking at the chandeliers.
“We did it,” she said.
“We did,” I said. I turned to her, taking both her hands in mine. “Clara, I know we said we’d wait until this was over. But I don’t want to wait anymore. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
Her eyes filled with tears. She nodded, laughing through them.
May you like
“Yes,” she said. “A thousand times yes.”
I kissed her, right there in the middle of the ballroom, under the crystal chandeliers, where it had all begun.
