Legally protected. Fully funded. Locked into motion.
Her hand lingered on the paper a moment longer, fingertips tracing the corner like she needed to feel it to believe it. Then she looked up, first to Harlan, who smiled wide, proud, and warm. Then to Narri, who gave the smallest, most subtle nod of approval from across the table. Finally, her gaze landed on Adair.
He didn’t smile.
But he didn’t have to.
Because his pride lived in his eyes.
And she felt it.
Every bit.
The moment she closed the official contract, a beat passed. Then another. And then?—
Applause.
The sound rose around Sabine like a wave. A standing ovation without the standing. A celebration from people who knew what she’d built and understood what it took to bring it here. Even Corrine offered a few polite claps, though she looked like it pained her.
Sabine pushed her chair back and stood with encouragement from her colleagues. “Thank you all so much for being a part of my dream,” she said, voice heavy with emotion and pride. “Aderra is officially underway.”
It was done.
And now—her new life began.
SABINE
Sabine sat on the edge of her office couch, knees slightly apart, elbows pressed to them while she wiped at her face with a tissue. The signed contract was already scanned and uploaded by her assistant. Outside her door, she could hear faint laughter and celebration.
The meeting was done.
And she did that.
This baby wasn’t even here yet, and already, Sabine felt like she’d brought something new into the world. Not just Aderra.
But herself.
Tears slipped again, and she let them. She wasn’t even trying to truly stop it. These weren’t the heavy kind, the ones that came from grief, like when Ariyah died, or betrayal, like when she finally heard the truth. These were the good ones.
And she was trying to trust that.
That they were good and she could have…good.
Her body still remembered pain better than joy. She was trying, though. To unlearn that. She sniffed and stood slowly, going to her en suite bathroom to collect herself, grateful for the space to breathe—grateful she’d built a workplace that had room for softness, not just strength.
From the window, she could still see the edge of the conference room. Harlan was standing now, arm resting casually against one of the chairs, grinning mid-sentence and across from him—Adair.
Talking.
Sabine blinked, genuinely surprised. Adair had his hand in his pocket, and his body language was calm, aloof but not hostile. She couldn’t hear them, but the energy looked...tolerable. That was progress because two weeks ago, she would’ve bet money he’d flip a chair over just for hearing Harlan say her name.
But now?
He knew.
Heknewthe only reason Harlan was even in the picture was because he, Adair Dayne, had fumbled the hell out of her. She could be defensive of Corrine but he had no right when it came to Harlan.However, the timeline might have started from pain, but anything that happened after today?That day?
That was present tense and Adair didn’t play about his present tense. She knew he’d charge the past to the game but if Harlan ever crossed the line going forward…