I remained alone in the rain.
For thirteen years, I had chased power because I believed success meant sitting at the right table, wearing the right suit, marrying into the right family, and owning enough things that nobody could ever look down on me again.
To reach that life, I stepped over Elena.
I abandoned two children before they were even born.
And I convinced myself the sacrifice had been worth it.
Now the entire world knew my sons’ names.
And they would never know mine as their father.
I closed my eyes as applause echoed faintly from inside the auditorium.
That was when I finally understood the greatest tragedy of my life.
It wasn’t losing Sterling Dominion.
It wasn’t losing the mansion.
It wasn’t losing Victoria’s fortune.
The tragedy was that thirteen years earlier, I had already possessed everything that mattered.
A brilliant woman who loved me.
Two extraordinary sons waiting to be born.
A family that could have been mine.
And I threw all of it away because I couldn’t tell the difference between something truly valuable and something that merely shined.
I had traded gold for brass.
And by the time I finally understood the difference, the gold no longer wanted me back.
