Maria rushed downstairs to find Emma crying, holding a crumpled drawing.
“She went through my desk!” Nate fumed.
It was a child’s drawing: Nate standing upright, smiling beside a woman. Taped above it was an old photo of him and Brianna from their engagement. The photo he couldn’t throw away.
“I wanted you to be happy,” Emma sobbed. “In my picture you’re standing.”
But anger, still raw inside him, won.
“Leave.”
Maria walked out with Emma in her arms. The door slammed.
Later, alone, Nate picked up the drawing. On the back, in crooked letters: “For Mr. Nate so he smiles again.”
And the man who had built a billion-dollar company broke down in tears.
Two days later, Ry carried Nate up the narrow stairs of Maria’s small apartment building.
Maria opened the door cautiously. Emma hid behind her.
“I’m sorry,” Nate said quietly. “I shouldn’t have yelled.”
Emma peered at him. “Are you gonna be mad again?”
“No,” he said. “Your drawing… it reminded me who I used to be. Thank you.”
She walked forward and handed him her stuffed bunny.
“I forgive you.”
Those words felt like oxygen.
“I want you both back,” he said. “And I want you to come with me somewhere important.”