Chapter 26 - THE WEDDING THAT WASN'T A GALA
Victor eventually proposed.
But he did not do it at a ballroom.
There were no cameras.
No politicians.
No mafia associates.
No champagne towers.
He took Lena to the harbor at sunrise.
The same harbor that had once been stolen from her family.
He stood beside the water.
“I don't have a perfect life to offer you.”
Lena smiled.
“I don't want one.”
“I have a complicated one.”
“So do I.”
“I have enemies.”
“So do I.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“But I want to spend whatever life I have left building something honest with you.”
He held out a simple ring.
Lena looked at it.
Then at him.
“Yes.”
Victor smiled.
She added:
“But no ballroom.”
“Agreed.”
“No giant party.”
“Agreed.”
“No one making a speech longer than five minutes.”
Victor laughed.
“I can promise that.”
They married quietly at the harbor.
The workers who had known Richard attended.
Samuel Brooks sat in the front row.
Lena's father's photograph stood nearby.
She looked at it before walking toward Victor.
“I think he'd approve.”
Victor whispered:
May you like
“I know he would.”
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