Chapter 18 - Returning HomeTwo weeks later, I returned to our hometown. The air was crisp with the approaching winter, and the fallen leaves crunched beneath my shoes as I walked down the familiar path toward the old bus station where Thomas and I had parted ways fifty-six years ago.
The old wooden bench was still there, weathered by decades of rain and snow.
I sat down, pulling the delicate silver engagement ring from my finger and holding it up to the pale afternoon sunlight. The diamond sparkled brilliantly, catching the light just as it had the day Thomas first showed it to me when we were seventeen.
A sleek black car pulled up quietly to the curb. Mr. Harrison, the family attorney, stepped out, holding a final sealed envelope.
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"The transition is complete, Mrs. Vance," he said softly, handing me the envelope. "Vance Enterprises is now fully restructured as a charitable foundation dedicated to education and medical research, bearing your name and Thomas's."
I smiled, opening the envelope. Inside was a single photograph taken of us at the hospital on our wedding day—our eyes shining, holding hands despite the pain, the sorrow, and the passing of half a century.
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