Part 3 of 3

But Grant still wasn’t finished.

The ballroom doors opened again.

Federal investigators entered quietly alongside financial crime officers.

Nathan broke first.

He started blaming Vanessa immediately.

Vanessa looked at Grant in disbelief.

“You turned me in?”

Grant stepped closer.

“For fourteen months, I stayed overseas proving where the corruption actually came from.”

His eyes never left hers.

“You thought I was hiding.”

His voice dropped lower.

“I was cleaning my name.”

As officers escorted Nathan away, Vanessa reached toward Grant desperately.

“I loved you.”

Grant didn’t even look at her.

“No. You loved access.”

The Little Girl Waiting In The Car

Grant left the ballroom without listening to reporters shouting his name.

Outside, rain had softened into a light mist.

He opened the back door of the SUV.

Ava sat wrapped in a blanket with red swollen eyes and messy braids.

For one second, neither of them moved.

Then she threw herself into his arms.

“Dad…” she cried. “I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

Grant held her tightly against his chest.

Stronger than he had ever held anything in his life.

“I told you I’d come back for you.”

Ava looked up at him nervously.

“Vanessa said you didn’t really love me because I’m not your real daughter.”

Grant felt something inside him break completely.

He gently held her face in both hands.

“Listen to me carefully, sweetheart.”

His voice shook for the first time that night.

“Family isn’t built by matching faces.”

Tears filled Ava’s eyes again.

Grant kissed her forehead softly.

“Family is who crosses the world for you. Family is who stays.”

Ava whispered quietly.

“So I really belong with you?”

Grant smiled through exhausted eyes.

“You are my daughter. Nothing changes that. Not ever.”

She buried her face into his chest and finally stopped shaking.

In the front seat, Elias looked away quietly to give them privacy.

After several moments, he cleared his throat.

“Sir, federal prosecutors are dropping the major charges connected to your case. Mercer already agreed to cooperate.”

Grant nodded slowly.

Then he looked out the window toward the distant Connecticut shoreline.

“Sell the Greenwich estate.”

Elias blinked.

“The whole property?”

Grant glanced down at Ava sleeping against him.

“Too many bad memories there.”

He brushed hair gently from her forehead.

“Find us somewhere quieter.”

Half asleep, Ava whispered softly:

“Can we have purple flowers?”

Grant smiled for the first time in over a year.

“As many as you want.”