Chapter 10 - THE EPILOGUE — THE FINAL FRAMEA year later, the premiere of Amelia’s autobiographical film, The Architect, was screening at the grand National Theater in New York City.
The red carpet was blindingly bright, flashing with cameras, cheering fans, and journalists shouting questions. Amelia stepped out of a sleek black town car, wearing a breathtaking bespoke gown embroidered with subtle silver threads that shimmered like starlight.
She walked up the grand staircase, pausing at the top to wave to the crowd. Her expression was radiant, confident, and completely free of shadows.
In the back of the crowd, standing behind the police barricades in a worn-out coat, a lone man watched her.
Ethan Cole looked older, his hair dusted with gray, his shoulders slightly hunched. He had watched her rise from the ashes of his own destruction, transforming into a global icon of female empowerment and business acumen. He realized now, with devastating clarity, what he had lost. He had traded a queen for a reflection, and in doing so, he had lost his entire universe.
Amelia turned toward the theater doors. For a fraction of a second, her eyes swept over the crowd. She didn't stop, and she didn't look specifically at him, but as she crossed the threshold into the theater, a faint, knowing smile touched her lips.
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The door closed behind her with a heavy, final click.
And out in the real world, far away from the flashing lights and red carpets, the tomatoes in Blue Ridge were growing taller and stronger under the summer sun, rooted deep in soil that belonged to no one else but her.
