Chapter 10 - A New Dawn at the Whitfield Estate
Six months later, the Greenwich estate looked entirely different.
The grand ballroom, once a cold and intimidating museum of high-society pretense, was filled with warmth, laughter, and the bright sound of children running across the polished marble floor. There were no press photographers outside the gates, no corporate executives whispering behind cupped hands, and no cold socialites judging from the corners.
Instead, the room was filled with close friends, trusted estate staff, and a scattering of laughing children.
At the center of the room stood a small, four-year-old girl in a custom white dress with pink satin ribbons, holding a sparkler safely in her hand while shouting happily at the orchestra.
And near the edge of the ballroom, standing by the glass conservatory doors, Nathan Whitfield watched his daughter spin in circles with a smile so wide and genuine that anyone who had known him five years ago wouldn't have recognized him.
A pair of warm arms slipped around his waist from behind, and a soft chin rested against his shoulder.
"You look like you're plotting a hostile takeover," Claire whispered teasingly, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek.
Nathan turned around in her arms, wrapping his hands securely around her waist. He looked down at her—at his wife, his equal, the heart and soul of his life—and smiled.
"Just calculating my assets," Nathan murmured, pressing his forehead against hers.
"And what do they add up to?" Claire asked, her dark eyes sparkling with quiet amusement.
Nathan looked over at Lily, who was currently trying to convince the lead violinist to play a song about a blue dinosaur, and then looked back down at the woman in his arms.
May you like
"Everything," Nathan whispered softly. "Absolutely everything."
The music swelled, filling the grand halls of the estate with a melody that echoed outward into the night—not a monument to the past, but a song for a brand-new beginning.
