Chapter 10 - The View from the Top
Midnight.
The gala guests had departed, the orchestra had played its final notes, and the grand hotel was filled with a warm, peaceful quiet.
Julian and I stood together on the private top-floor balcony of the new Bennett Tower, forty stories above Michigan Avenue.
The autumn night breeze was soft and cool, carrying the gentle scent of Lake Michigan. Below us, the city lights of Chicago stretched out like a galaxy of fallen stars, brilliant, endless, and full of life.
Julian wrapped a warm cashmere blanket around my shoulders, stepping behind me and pulling me gently against his chest. I leaned back against him, wrapping my hands over his.
"What are you thinking about?" Julian whispered into my hair, his arms holding me secure against the night wind.
"I was thinking about four years ago," I replied softly, looking out at the glittering skyline. "If someone had told me then that I would lose a marriage, defeat a hostile takeover, build a 40-story tower, and fall in love with the most extraordinary man I've ever known... I would have told them they were dreaming."
Julian smiled, kissing the side of my neck. "And are you dreaming now, Miss Vance?"
I turned around in his arms, looking up into his handsome face, my fingers touching the lapel of his tuxedo where the silver phoenix brooch gleamed under the moonlight.
I looked at the hotel that bore my family's name, at the city I had conquered, and at the man who held my heart with total, unshakeable devotion.
"No," I smiled, my heart overflowing with absolute peace, joy, and profound freedom. "I am finally, completely awake."
Julian leaned down, wrapping his arms around my waist, and kissed me deeply under the quiet, starry Chicago sky.
The small girl who had swallowed insults at a restaurant table was gone forever.
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In her place stood a woman who owned her property, her legacy, her heart, and her life—unbroken, triumphant, and free.
THE END
