Not because she'd forgotten Sarah, but because she'd finally understood that death meant permanent absence, that missing someone didn't mean they could return. It was progress, painful, necessary progress. Victoria cut her hours at Sterling Capital, delegated more to her executive team, started attending family dinners at her father's house that she'd previously made excuses to avoid. Thomas Sterling remained complicated, too stubborn to apologize for years of prioritizing business over his daughter, too proud to admit he'd been wrong about Marcus, but he was trying. The first time he met Lily, he brought her a stuffed elephant because Victoria had mentioned she collected them.
Lily looked at the elephant with critical eye. "It's too big. My elephants are small, so they can all fit on my bed." Thomas looked genuinely confused. I can get you a smaller one.
No, this one can be the daddy elephant. He can watch over the little ones. The logic made sense only to four-year-old minds. But Thomas accepted it. He sat on Victoria's living room floor and helped Lily arrange her elephant family in proper hierarchy.
The massive billionaire who'd built an empire from nothing, following instructions from a child about which stuffed animals should go where. Victoria watched from the kitchen, eyes bright. He was never like that with me, she said quietly to Ethan. Maybe he didn't know how. Maybe.
Or maybe he was too busy building Sterling Capital to remember that children need attention more than inheritance. You could ask him. I could, but I'm not sure I want to hear the answer. Ethan didn't push. Some conversations required more time.
Ethan enrolled in night classes for engineering certification. Sarah had always encouraged him to finish his degree. Said he was too smart to spend his life unclogging toilets and replacing light bulbs. He'd never had time before. Now Victoria insisted on covering Lily's child care so he could attend classes three nights a week.
She wouldn't take no for an answer. This isn't charity, she said when he protested. This is investment in our future. If we're building life together, I want you to have opportunities that make you happy, not just opportunities that keep you surviving. I don't want to be kept, man.
You're not your partner who's getting support during transition. Same as I would support you if you were sick. Same as you supported me when I was falling apart at the gala. Ethan couldn't argue with that logic. He took the classes, discovered he was good at engineering, that the problem-solving skills he'd developed through years of emergency response and maintenance work translated into academic success he hadn't expected.
The instructor told him he had potential. First time in years, someone had seen potential in him beyond his ability to work three jobs without dying. Marcus pleaded guilty to federal charges in exchange for reduced sentence, 15 years minimum. His trial would have destroyed Sterling Capital's reputation through association, so prosecutors accepted plea that kept details relatively private. Thomas visited him once in holding.
Returned looking older than his 68 years. Victoria asked what they'd discussed. "He wanted me to know he was sorry," Thomas said. "That he never meant for things to go this far. That he truly loved you in his own way."