Chapter 10 - The Master's Table
That evening, as the sun set in a brilliant blaze of orange and pink over Lake Michigan, the entire family gathered at the long wooden picnic table in the center of the garden.
There were no assigned seats. There were no VIP sections.
Arthur sat at the head of the table, his face radiant with health and joy, raising his glass of fresh lemonade high into the warm evening air.
"To Nora," Arthur called out, his voice strong and clear. "The woman who showed us that the greatest fortune on earth isn't found in bank vaults or tall towers... but in the love we give, the dignity we hold, and the family we build together!"
"TO NORA!" the entire table echoed in a resounding, joyous chorus.
Daniel raised his glass, looking into his wife’s eyes with absolute devotion.
Nora looked around the crowded, happy table. She saw her husband, glowing with love and strength. She saw her father-in-law, thriving and peaceful. She saw Eleanor, Preston, and Meredith, transformed by humility and hard work. And she felt the gentle, kick of new life beneath her heart—the next generation of the Bennett legacy, growing in love and truth.
Nora picked up her glass, her smile warm, steady, and radiant beneath the summer stars.
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"To my parents," Nora whispered softly, touching her glass to Daniel's. "And to the table where everyone has a seat."
The laughter and music carried long into the warm Chicago night, echoing far beyond the garden walls, celebrating a woman who had retired from being a slave—and in doing so, had taught an entire empire how to finally become a family.
