Chapter 18 - The Life They Tried to Steal
One year after Clare first entered the Lombardi mansion, the Lucia Lombardi Rehabilitation Center opened.
The line outside wrapped around the block.
Sebastian hated public speeches.
Clare made him give one anyway.
He stood at the podium using a cane.
Cameras flashed.
Owen sat in the front row wearing a suit Sebastian had bought him.
“You look like a tiny lawyer,” Clare had said.
“I look rich,” Owen answered.
Sebastian began speaking.
“For many years, I believed my medical condition was something fate had decided.”
He paused.
“I was wrong.”
Clare watched from the side of the stage.
“I also believed needing help was weakness.”
A few people smiled.
“I was wrong about that too.”
His eyes found Clare.
“One person looked at an old scar everyone else had stopped questioning.”
Clare’s throat tightened.
“She asked one more question.”
Sebastian looked at the patients gathered in front of him.
“This center exists because sometimes one more question can change a life.”
He did not tell them everything.
They did not need the darkness.
Only what had grown from it.
After the ceremony, Owen dragged Sebastian toward the new therapy pool.
“You promised a game room.”
“I promised nothing.”
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“Emotionally.”
Sebastian stared at him.
Clare laughed.
“He has you there.”
“I regret encouraging his vocabulary.”
Owen ran ahead.
Sebastian turned toward Clare.
“One year.”
“One year.”
“You were supposed to be one appointment.”
“You were supposed to be easy money.”
“I was never easy.”
“Definitely not.”
They walked through the building together.
Patients practiced steps between parallel bars.
A woman recovering from a stroke lifted her hand while her husband cheered.
A teenager relearned balance after an accident.
An older man took three assisted steps and started crying.
Sebastian stopped.
The scene struck him harder than expected.
Clare touched his arm.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He watched the man take another step.
“This was worth it.”
“What was?”
“All of it.”
Clare looked at him.
“No.”
He corrected himself.
“Not all of it.”
The suffering had not been necessary.
The betrayal had not been destiny.
He no longer needed to romanticize pain to justify surviving it.
He had simply survived.
And then built something better.
That evening Sebastian took Clare and Owen to the unfinished rooftop restaurant of his first hotel.
Dinner waited beneath string lights.
Chicago glittered around them.
Owen immediately noticed an envelope beside his plate.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Inside was a drawing.
A floor plan.
Owen’s eyes widened.
“GAME ROOM?”
Sebastian sighed.
“One.”
“With arcade machines?”
“Yes.”
“Pool table?”
“Yes.”
“VR?”
“Within reason.”
Owen jumped from his chair and hugged him.
Sebastian stumbled slightly.
Clare reached out.
He steadied himself.
“I’m fine.”
Owen whispered loudly to Clare, “He’s getting old.”
“I heard that.”
After dessert, Sofia arrived to take Owen downstairs.
Clare immediately became suspicious.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Sebastian said.
“You’re bad at lying now.”
“I’m improving.”
The rooftop became quiet.
Sebastian walked toward the edge.
Clare followed.
“Remember when you asked what happens when this is over?” he said.
“Yes.”
“I think I finally know.”
He turned.
There was no ring in his hand.
Clare blinked.
“Aren’t you supposed to kneel?”
Sebastian stared at her.
“You’re assuming a lot.”
“You sent my son away and brought me to a rooftop.”
“Maybe I’m firing you.”
“You’re terrible at romance.”
He laughed.
Then carefully, slowly, Sebastian lowered himself onto one knee.
Clare’s teasing expression vanished.
He had practiced for weeks.
She knew immediately.
His leg trembled.
But he stayed there.
Then he removed a small ring box from his jacket.
“Clare Bennett, you walked into my house because you needed ten thousand dollars.”
She started crying.
“I was hoping we wouldn’t mention that.”
“You insulted me.”
“You deserved it.”
“You ordered me around.”
“You needed it.”
“You gave me back something no surgeon could.”
“My legs?”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“My future.”
Clare covered her mouth.
“I love you.”
Sebastian opened the box.
“Build that future with me.”
She nodded before he finished.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good, because getting down here was difficult.”
Clare laughed through tears and helped him stand.
Then kissed him beneath the Chicago skyline.
Far below, Owen screamed from a window:
“SHE SAID YES!”
Clare pulled away.
“He knew?”
“Everyone knew.”
“I hate this family.”
Sebastian smiled.
“No, you don’t.”
She looked around at Sofia, Owen, Carlo, and the people gathering behind the glass.
He was right.
Somewhere along the way, the family that had once represented Sebastian’s deepest betrayal had become something different.
Not because the past changed.
May you like
Because they did.
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