Chapter 48 - the gala became a memory
Ten years after the original scandal, the company held another gala.
Leo was now a young man.
He stood beside me in a dark suit.
Julian arrived with a simple smile.
The ballroom looked almost exactly the same.
Crystal chandeliers.
Marble floors.
Warm lights.
But the meaning had changed.
Leo looked around.
“This place used to scare me.”
I took his hand.
“I know.”
“Not anymore.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the center of the room.
“Do you remember the dress?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
“The phone?”
“Yes.”
“The photograph?”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You remember everything.”
I looked at him.
“I don't want to forget.”
“Why?”
“Because forgetting and healing aren't the same thing.”
He nodded.
Then he walked onto the dance floor.
Julian followed.
They danced.
Father and son.
No secrets.
No performance.
Just two people who had survived something neither of them had chosen.
I watched them.
And for the first time, the ballroom felt like just a room.
May you like
Nothing more.
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