Chapter 25 - The Question Caleb Asked Me
Marriage changed slowly.
Not dramatically.
Not like the movies.
Sometimes it was simply Caleb leaving coffee beside my desk.
Sometimes it was me waiting for him after a late shift.
Sometimes we argued.
Sometimes we were exhausted.
But we always came back to the same place.
Truth.
One night, Caleb asked me something.
“Are you happy?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“That's not what I asked.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you happy, Nora?”
I thought about it.
The company.
The foundation.
My father's memory.
My mother's imprisonment.
Sienna.
The wedding.
The future.
“I think I'm learning how to be.”
Caleb nodded.
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't want to spend the rest of my life watching you fight ghosts.”
His words hurt.
Because they were true.
I had defeated Victoria.
I had protected my father's name.
I had rebuilt his company.
But sometimes I still woke up expecting another battle.
I looked at Caleb.
“I don't know how to stop.”
He took my hand.
“Then start by believing you don't have to fight every day.”
I leaned against his shoulder.
May you like
For the first time, I allowed myself to imagine a life that wasn't organized around surviving something.
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