---- Chapter 22 Harper Griffin POV: Life after Adler was a renaissance. | poured my heart and soul into rebuilding the Griffin Firm, and under my leadership, it rose from the ashes, stronger and more innovative than ever. Our victory in court had made me something of a legend in the architectural world, and the best and brightest minds flocked to join my team. Our first major project was a joint venture with North Star Developments. It felt fitting, a partnership built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect. On the day of the official contract signing, a sleek black Bentley pulled up to the front of the conference center. My heart gave a small, involuntary stutter. But then the passenger door opened, and Keaton stepped out, looking impossibly handsome in a tailored black suit. He was no longer Keaton Olson, Esquire. He was Mr. Olson, CEO. He smiled when he saw me, a warm, genuine smile that teached his eyes. "Ms. Griffin," he said, his voice filled with a playful formality as he shook my hand. "A pleasure to finally do business with you." "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Olson," | replied, my own smile mirroring his. "I trust you'll be a fair and honorable partner." ---- "Always," he said, his hand lingering on mine for a moment longer than was strictly professional. Our partnership, both professional and personal, blossomed. We traveled the world, rebuilding cities and our own lives, with Leo always between us, a bright, joyful center to our new universe. He legally took Keaton's last name, a choice he made himself. Two years after Adler's sentencing, news trickled out from the prison. He had taken his own life. The guards had found him in his cell, clutching a worn, ripped photograph in his hand. | heard the news without a flicker of emotion. He was a ghost from a life that no longer belonged to me. A bad dream that had faded with the morning light. A year after that, on a trip to Iceland, under the ethereal, dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis, Keaton got down on one knee. "Harper Griffin," he said, his voice thick with emotion, "you are the strongest, bravest, most brilliant woman | have ever known. You taught me that justice is worth fighting for, and that love is worth waiting for. Will you marry me?" Leo, his face flushed pink from the cold, clapped his mittened hands together in delight. "Say yes, Mom! Say yes!" | looked from Keaton's hopeful, loving face to my son's joyful one, and the tears that came to my eyes were, for the first ---- time in a very long time, tears of pure happiness. "Yes," | whispered. "A thousand times, yes." Leo cheered and launched himself at us, squeezing himself between our embracing forms. Keaton laughed, scooping him up into his arms. "Hey now," Keaton said, a mock-stern look on his face. "How am | supposed to hold your mother's hand with you in the way?" He settled Leo on his hip, and then his free hand found mine, our fingers lacing together, a perfect fit. The three of us stood there, a tiny, new family silhouetted against the vast, star-dusted sky and the magical, swirling colors of the northern lights, walking forward into our own happily ever after.