Chapter 18 - The Shadow at the Gates
Three months later.
The historic Chateau de Bellevue on the shores of Lake Geneva was lit up like a celestial fortress. Hartwell Dynamics was celebrating its ten-year milestone alongside the announcement of the world’s most advanced clean-energy AI platform.
Billionaires, diplomats, and cultural icons gathered on the manicured estate grounds.
Outside the grand wrought-iron gates of the estate, a figure huddled under a thin canvas jacket, shivering against the biting Swiss winter wind.
It was Preston.
He had sold his rusty station wagon and his last blood plasma to buy a one-way bus ticket across Europe, driven by a psychotic, delusional obsession to confront Lena one final time before his failing health consumed him.
His eyes were sunken, his yellowed skin stretched tight over his cheekbones. He looked like a living corpse standing outside the gates of paradise.
Through the tall iron bars, he saw them.
Lena was standing on the heated marble terrace, looking radiant in an emerald velvet evening gown. Beside her stood a tall, distinguished European gentleman—Lord Henry Vance, a renowned international philanthropist who looked at Lena with deep, genuine adoration and respect.
Maya and Lily, now beautiful, confident young women, were standing beside them, laughing as Henry presented them with custom-designed violins. They looked like a complete, unbreakable, truly happy family.
May you like
Preston gripped the freezing iron bars, his tears burning against his ice-cold cheeks.
"Lena..." he whimpered, his voice lost in the wind. "Maya... Lily..."
