Chapter 6
The next year was the best of my life.
I ran Halden Group. I was twenty-five. The company was thriving. Profitable. Ethical. We were named one of the most ethical companies in the country.
I started a foundation. The Halden Foundation. To help young women in business. To provide mentorship. Funding. Education. To make sure no young woman was ever sold or traded or treated like property again.
Adrian and I moved in together. A small house with a garden. He cooked. I made messes. We were happy.
He proposed on our one-year anniversary. In the garden. With a ring that had belonged to his mother.
"Emma Halden," he said. "I've been waiting for you my whole life. I didn't know it until you threw yourself in front of my car in the rain. But now I know. Will you marry me?"
I said yes.
We had a small wedding. My father's old friends came. The board members who'd stood by me came. The women from the foundation came. It was perfect.
I kept my name. Emma Halden. Adrian didn't mind. He said Halden was a name worth keeping.
Life was good.
But there was one thing I hadn't done. One place I hadn't gone.
My father's grave.
I'd avoided it since he died. The grief was too sharp. The anger at Celeste too fresh.
But now—now that it was over—I was ready.
Adrian went with me. We brought flowers. I stood at the grave and talked to my father.
"I did it, Dad," I said. "I saved the company. I put Celeste away. I'm running Halden Group. And I'm happy. I found someone who loves me. Who respects me. Who never once tried to control me. I wish you could meet him. I wish you could see what I've become."
I placed the flowers on the grave. Adrian put his arm around me.
"He'd be proud," Adrian said.
May you like
"I know," I said. And I did know. Because my father had raised me to be strong. To be smart. To never let anyone tell me what I was worth.
And I'd made him proud.
