Chapter 20 #2
The room remains silent.
"Authority is easy." Her fingers rest lightly on the closed folder before her. "Titles can be inherited. Positions can be inherited. Wealth can be inherited." Her gaze never leaves mine. "Trust can't."
The words settle heavily over the room.
"We knew you were intelligent." She continues. "We knew you were educated and understood business. None of those things were ever the problem. We didn't know whether you would run toward difficult decisions or away from them."
The honesty of the answer catches me off guard. For years, I assumed they simply wanted me gone. Apparently the reality was more complicated.
Elena's expression softens slightly. "Walking into the Keegan estate yourself answered that question."
The atmosphere in the room shifts after that. The discussion moves on to strategy, operations, and the opportunities now sitting in front of us, but for the first time, nobody questions whether I belong at the head of the table.
By the time the meeting finally ends and the advisors begin gathering their documents, the boardroom feels very different from the one I walked into. One by one, the advisors gather their documents and make their way toward the door.
Magnus pauses briefly before leaving. "You did well." Then they're gone.
The door closes behind the last of them, leaving me alone in the suddenly quiet boardroom. For a long moment, I remain seated at the head of the table. I should feel victorious.
For months, this is exactly what I fought for. Their trust. Their respect. Their belief that I belonged here. For the first time since returning home, I finally have everything I wanted.
By the time I return to my office, I should feel accomplished. The Ireland operation was a success. The Keegan files secured our future, and for the first time since dad's death, the advisors finally acknowledged my leadership.
Yet none of it manages to quiet the restless feeling sitting in my chest. My thoughts drift briefly to Roisin, wondering whether she made it out safely. Inevitably, they drift to someone else as well. A masked man who vanished without a goodbye.
I force myself to stop before I disappear down that path again. Fortunately, my phone chooses that exact moment to ring.
The cheerful ringtone cuts through the silence, and the moment I see Aurelia's name on the screen, a smile immediately pulls at my lips.
I answer before the second ring finishes. "Aurelia?"
"Zora!" I immediately pull the phone slightly away from my ear. The sheer excitement in her voice is enough to make me laugh. "You are not going to believe what happened."
The declaration is so dramatic that I sink back into my chair.
"Considering the volume level, I'm assuming nobody died."
"Keith proposed!"
For a second, my brain refuses to process the sentence. I stare blankly at the skyline. Then I sit upright so quickly that my chair rolls backward. "What?"
Aurelia laughs. The sound is bright and completely unrestrained. "He proposed!"
"You're serious?"
"Yes!"
"Oh my God."
"I know!"
"Aurelia."
"I know!"
I can't stop laughing. Partly because of the news. Partly because her excitement is so infectious that resisting it feels impossible.
"Start from the beginning." I demand. "And don't skip anything."
The next twenty minutes disappear almost instantly.
Aurelia enthusiastically recounts every detail of the proposal, beginning with the location and somehow circling through at least seven unrelated stories before eventually arriving back at the actual engagement.
Apparently Keith spent most of the day acting suspiciously. Apparently he was nervous enough to check for the ring every fifteen minutes. Apparently he nearly ruined the surprise three separate times.
And according to Aurelia, he almost dropped the ring entirely.
"I didn’t." Keith's voice suddenly appears from somewhere in the background.
Aurelia gasps. "Stop eavesdropping."
"You put me on speaker."
"That's not the point."
"That’s exactly the point."
I laugh and lean back in my chair.
Keith lets out a dramatic sigh. "For the record, Zora, the ring never came anywhere near the ocean."
"It absolutely did." Aurelia intervenes.
The laughter that follows feels effortless. For the first time since returning from Ireland, I find myself relaxing completely.
Eventually Keith takes control of the conversation. "Hey, Zora."
"Yeah!"
Keith's voice suddenly appears in the background. "You realize she's been planning this wedding since five minutes after I proposed."
Aurelia gasps. "That is not true."
"There are spreadsheets."
I close my eyes. "Oh no."
"See?" Keith says. "You get it."
Aurelia lets out an offended noise before growing quieter. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you, Zora."
"What is it?"
"I want you to be my Maid of Honor." The words catch me completely off guard.
"Aurelia..."
"There isn't anyone else I'd rather have standing beside me."
I smile. "I'd be honored."
The relief in her laugh is immediate. "Good."
"You didn't think I'd say no, did you?"
"No." A pause. "Maybe a little."
I shake my head. "Never."
Her enthusiasm immediately returns. "Then you'll be here next month."
I blink. "What?"
"The wedding is in less than two months. We need to start planning."
"Aurelia."
"It's not that much time."
Keith immediately cuts in. "It's absolutely that much time."
"Ignore him."
"You should not ignore me."
I laugh. "In two months?"
"Two months." Aurelia confirms. "And I need my Maid of Honor."
The argument that follows lasts several more minutes, ending with Aurelia assigning me responsibilities whether I agree to them or not.
By the time we finally say goodbye, my cheeks hurt from smiling. The call ends, and silence gradually returns to the office. But this time it feels different. Peaceful.