Chapter 7 - A New DynastySix months later, the sun was shining brightly over the pristine, snow-capped peaks of Aspen, Colorado—the exact same mountains that were supposed to be my grave.
I stood on the wraparound balcony of a brand-new, glass-and-stone mountainside chalet, breathing in the crisp, clean alpine air. In my arms, wrapped in a soft cashmere baby blanket, was a healthy, beautiful six-month-old boy with bright, curious gray eyes and a head of thick, dark hair.
His name was Julian Cross Parker.
Down below in the private driveway, a sleek black town car idled, waiting to take us to the grand reopening of the Cross National Insurance regional headquarters in downtown Denver—an office that I now officially managed as the executive vice president of global risk assessment and fraud deterrence.
As for Ethan and Brittany?
Federal trials move fast when the evidence is absolute, ironclad, and backed by a multibillion-dollar insurance conglomerate. Ethan was currently sitting in a maximum-security federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, serving a mandatory twenty-five-year sentence without the possibility of parole. Brittany had taken a plea deal, testifying against Ethan in exchange for a fifteen-year sentence at a federal women's facility in Dublin, California.
Their penthouse, their luxury cars, their designer clothes, and their stolen millions had all been seized, liquidated, and reinvested into a charitable foundation dedicated to protecting domestic abuse survivors and financial fraud victims—managed entirely by me.
"Are you ready, boss?" Jonathan’s voice called out gently from inside the master suite.
I turned around, stepping back inside the warm, sunlit room, adjusting Julian comfortably against my shoulder. Jonathan walked over, wearing a sharp silver tie, and gently tickled his grandson under the chin. Julian let out a soft, happy gurgle, grabbing onto Jonathan’s finger with tiny, perfect fingers.
"Always," I said, a brilliant, unbreakable smile spreading across my face.
The girl who had been pushed off a snowy mountain nine months pregnant was gone. In her place stood a queen, sitting firmly atop a dynasty built not on lies and deceit, but on absolute truth, unyielding power, and cold, calculating justice.
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And the best part?
We were just getting started.
