Chapter 9

Ten years after the gala, I stepped down as CEO of The Vanguard Group.

Ethan took over. He was thirty now. Brilliant. Kind. Fair. Sophia was his second-in-command. Marcus ran real estate. Lily ran brand. Ricky was now a vice president, running our affordable housing division. He'd found his purpose. He'd named his daughter Audrey. My namesake.

I was sixty-nine. I had more money than I could ever spend. More love than I'd ever dreamed of. More grandchildren than I could count—Emma was ten, Grace and Thomas were eight, Daniel was six, Audrey was four, and Lily and Maria had just adopted a baby boy named Hope.

Hope. That was his name. Because that's what he was.

I spent my days at The Vessel House. I read to the children. I rocked the babies. I told them stories. I told them they were loved. They were wanted. They were going to change the world.

And they believed me. Because I believed it too.

One day, a little girl came up to me. She was four. She'd been abandoned at a hospital. Just like Sophia. Just like so many others. She held my hand and said, "Will someone want me?"

I knelt down. Looked her in the eye. "I want you. And there's a family out there who wants you more than anything. You just have to wait for them. And while you wait, I'm here. I love you. And you are wanted."

She hugged me. I hugged her back. And I thought—this is why I'm here. This is what it was all for. The pain. The grief. The revenge. The justice. It was all leading to this moment. This little girl. This hug. This love.

I adopted her. My sixth child. At sixty-nine years old. My children thought I was crazy. Then they met her. And they loved her too.

We named her Faith.

Because that's what she was. Faith. Faith that things get better. Faith that love wins. Faith that broken vessels can be made whole.

The Vessel House grew. We opened ten more across the country. We helped thousands of children find homes. We became a national model. We changed laws. We changed lives.

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And I was happy. Truly, deeply, lastingly happy.

I had everything. A family that loved me. A legacy that would outlive me. A purpose. And peace.