Chapter 20 - The First Twenty-Eight Dollars
Later that evening, after the crowds had cleared and the foundation building had settled into a quiet, peaceful hum, I walked back down to my office on the top floor. The city lights of Boston twinkled across the horizon like a million steady diamonds, no longer a symbol of corporate warfare, but of a city reborn.
A soft knock echoed at my open door.
Marissa stepped inside, holding a small white envelope in her hands. She walked over to my desk, her expression carrying a playful, teasing smile that I had grown to love more than anything else in the world.
"What's this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I leaned back in my chair.
"A repayment," she said softly, placing the envelope right on the center of my blotter.
I opened the flap and pulled out a crisp, brand-new twenty-eight-dollar bill layout, accompanied by a handwritten note in her neat, precise cursive: For the formula. Paid in full.
I laughed, shaking my head as I looked up into her eyes. "You know, technically, inflation adjusted that debt to about thirty-two dollars."
May you like
Marissa leaned over the desk, her face inches from mine, her eyes sparkling with quiet triumph. "Then I guess I'll just have to work here for the rest of my life to pay off the balance."
"Deal," I whispered, pulling her close as the city lights burned brightly outside our window, knowing at last that we had finally won the war against the past.
