Chapter 10 - THE LIFE WE CHOSE
One year later, Lily stood on a rooftop overlooking Manhattan.
Three little girls played nearby.
Edward approached carrying four cups of coffee.
“You're late.”
“I'm a billionaire.”
“That's not an excuse.”
He smiled.
“It usually is.”
She took the coffee.
The city stretched beneath them.
Mercer Systems had been rebuilt under new leadership.
Lily's foundation had become one of the most respected technology organizations in the country.
Her name was finally attached to work she had actually created.
Not Cole's.
Not anyone else's.
Hers.
Edward stood beside her.
“Do you ever regret it?”
“What?”
“Walking away.”
Lily looked at her daughters.
“Every day I think about the life I thought I wanted.”
“And?”
She smiled.
“This one is better.”
Edward reached for her hand.
This time, she took it willingly.
There was no pressure.
No contract.
No rescue.
Just choice.
Later that evening, Lily found an envelope waiting in her office.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Charlotte stood beside a man Lily didn't recognize.
On the back was a single sentence:
ORION WAS ONLY THE FIRST SYSTEM.
Lily stared at it.
Edward entered.
“What is it?”
She handed him the photograph.
His expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
“Who is he?”
Edward looked at the man again.
“My father's former partner.”
“But he's dead.”
Edward slowly turned the photograph over.
His face became serious.
“He was supposed to be.”
Lily looked toward her sleeping daughters.
For a moment, she felt fear.
Then she smiled.
“Then I suppose we have another problem.”
Edward looked at her.
“Season two?”
Lily laughed.
“Something like that.”
He wrapped an arm around her.
Below them, New York continued shining.
The woman who had once signed divorce papers while crying over the life she thought she'd lost was gone.
She had become a mother.
A founder.
A woman who no longer measured her worth by the man who had walked away.
And beside her stood a man who had never asked her to become smaller so he could feel larger.
The first chapter of their new life had ended.
But somewhere beyond the city lights, someone had just opened an old file.
A file marked:
PROJECT ORION — PHASE TWO.
May you like
And this time, Lily Mercer wasn't running.
She was ready.
