Chapter 10 - A NEW DAWN
Six months later, I sat on a park bench watching the autumn leaves fall. A sleek, black town car pulled up to the curb. The rear window rolled down, revealing Beatrice. She looked like a queen ruling a hard-won kingdom.
Beside her, Caleb rolled down his window. He held a thick, heavily redacted manuscript.
“We are publishing our first joint thesis,” Caleb said, his tone still analytical, but lacking the freezing contempt from before. “We needed a peer review on the foundational algorithms. Your old academic papers were... adequate.”
He tossed the manuscript onto my lap.
“Page 4,” Bennett’s voice echoed from the depths of the car.
May you like
I opened the heavy binder to the dedication page. It read: To Beatrice, who built the foundation. And to Alistair, who showed us how to reinforce it.
Tears pricked my eyes. I looked up, but the window was already rolling up. The car pulled away, merging into the bustling city traffic. I was entirely alone on the bench, but as I held the heavy paper in my hands, I smiled. It was a long road out of hell, but for the first time in thirteen years, I was finally heading home.
