Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF ADMISSIONEthan began to tear down his old life. He fired his PR firm, publicly broke off the engagement with Victoria, and even canceled his high-society charity functions. He spent his evenings not in boardrooms, but on the floor of the parlor, listening to Lily play, or watching Rosa work, trying to help in ways that felt clumsy but sincere.

One night, he brought her the old letters. The ones he had written during those three months they were together—letters he had never sent because he thought he needed to be "stronger" before he could be with her.
"I was a coward, Rosa," he confessed, handing her a stack of envelopes. "I was terrified that if I let you into my world, I’d lose the only part of myself that was still human."
Rosa read them by the fireplace. They were raw, desperate, and filled with a love so pure it made her chest ache. She cried for the woman she had been—the one who had hoped for a future that never materialized.
"It's too late for us," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
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"It's never too late for the truth," he replied, reaching for her hand.
For the first time in three years, she didn't pull away.