Chapter 7 - Rebuilding from the Ashes
The weeks following the board meeting brought a slow, tender rebuilding process.
I took an indefinite leave of absence from Vance Global, appointing an interim COO to manage daily operations. For the first time in my thirty-eight years of life, my calendar was cleared not for board meetings or international business trips, but for midnight feedings, pediatrician visits, and quiet walks through the historic streets of Old Town Alexandria.
Living under the same roof again, even in separate rooms, brought back memories of the early days of our relationship—before corporate greed and motherly interference had poisoned our home.
One rainy afternoon in mid-January, while Liam slept in his nursery, Maren and I sat by the kitchen counter, sifting through old photographs.
"Look at this one," Maren chuckled softly, holding up a faded polaroid from our senior year of college. We were sitting on a blanket in a public park, eating cheap takeout, laughing under an oversized umbrella.
"We didn't have a dime to our names back then," I said with a nostalgic smile. "And yet... I think I was happier in that picture than I was running a multi-billion-dollar corporation."
"You lost your way, Everett," Maren said softly, looking at me with genuine warmth. "You thought you needed to build a mountain of wealth to protect us, but all I ever wanted was for you to be present."
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"I see that now," I said, reaching across the counter to gently cup her hand. "It took losing you, and almost losing our son, to realize that wealth without the people you love is just a gilded cage."
Maren didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she turned her palm upward, interlacing her fingers with mine.
