Chapter 9 - The Question Under the FireworksMidnight.
The sky above the city erupted in brilliant cascades of gold, crimson, and silver light as the clock struck midnight, welcoming the arrival of a brand new year.
Outside the tiny apartment building in Ballard, a black town car idled quietly in the snow.
Nathan stood at the door, wearing his heavy winter coat. He took a deep breath, raised his hand, and knocked twice.
The door opened instantly.
Janelle stood there, wearing a simple blue sweater, her dark eyes shining with unshed tears. Behind her, Lydia was jumping up and down on the sofa, shouting, “Happy New Year! Happy New Year!”
“You won,” Janelle whispered, a faint, bittersweet smile touching her lips. “I saw it on the news. You saved your company.”
“I saved my life,” Nathan corrected softly, stepping across the threshold not as a billionaire CEO, but as a man coming home.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, simple silver key—not to the riverfront penthouse, but to a newly purchased, warm, sunlit townhouse just four blocks away, featuring a little backyard with room for a snowman and a very happy stray cat.
“I don’t want to live in a museum anymore, Janelle,” Nathan said, his voice trembling with raw emotion. “And I don’t want to be alone. Will you... will you and Lydia let me borrow a place in your family?”
May you like
Janelle laughed through her tears, stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
“You don’t have to borrow anything, Nathan,” she whispered against his shoulder as the distant fireworks boomed across the winter sky. “You’re already home.”
