Chapter 9 - The Table for TwentyA year later, dinner was different.
There were children running through the halls.
Lily had friends over.
Amara sat beside her.
Grace worked fewer hours now.
She had become family.
I walked into the dining room.
The table still seated twenty.
But nobody feared sitting beside me anymore.
Lily had taken the chair that once represented everything I lost.
Amara sat beside her.
She looked at me.
“Mister Julian?”
I smiled.
“What?”
“Can I eat with you?”
I laughed.
“You've been eating with me for a year.”
She shrugged.
“Just checking.”
Grace smiled.
Lily giggled.
I sat down.
For the first time, the table was full.
Not with business partners.
Not with criminals.
Not with men who feared me.
With people I loved.
Lily reached across the table.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you happy?”
I looked around.
At Grace.
At Amara.
At Lily.
At the empty chair that no longer felt painful.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Amara leaned toward Lily.
“See? People who eat alone are sad.”
Lily laughed.
I looked at Amara.
“You were right.”
She nodded seriously.
“I usually am.”
Everyone laughed.
Then the door opened.
Marcus entered.
He held an envelope.
I frowned.
“What is it?”
“A letter.”
“For you.”
I opened it.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
Your grandfather wasn't the beginning.
I looked up.
My smile disappeared.
May you like
Because some stories end with the truth.
Others reveal that the truth was only the beginning.
