Chapter 1159:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

“This foundation would not exist without the support of so many people.” Her voice softened, grew warmer. “I want to thank my team, my partners who believed in this work, and most of all, my husband, Easton Hahn.”

She lifted her left hand for the cameras, the wedding band sitting beside her engagement ring, both glinting brilliantly in the sunlight.

“Three weeks ago, Easton and I were married at City Hall, with our rabbit Snowball as our official witness. When I was at my lowest — my most broken, my most desperate — he stood beside me. He has been my partner, my advocate, my best friend. He taught me that a real partnership isn’t about control. It’s about trust. It’s about respect. It’s about standing side by side, as equals.”

In the front row, Easton’s eyes glistened, but he didn’t look away, didn’t blink, didn’t drop her gaze for a single second.

“So today, we open these doors not just to a building, but to a new way of doing science. Independent. Ethical. Unstoppable. Thank you all.”

She gave a small, graceful nod, and the crowd rose to its feet. The cameras flashed in a continuous, blinding stream, capturing the moment forever.

June stepped down from the podium and walked straight into Easton’s open arms. He caught her easily, lifting her slightly off her feet and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead as the cameras flashed faster around them.

In the far corner of the crowd, Brogan stood holding a beautifully wrapped flower basket. He watched the two of them embrace, a soft, relieved smile crossing his face, then handed the basket quietly to a nearby staff member with a murmured request to deliver it backstage. He turned and slipped away, his footsteps light, his arrival and departure noticed by no one.

In a black sedan parked along the side of the road, Alexander sat in the back seat, staring through the window at the entrance to the building. His hand rested on his knee, fingers tapping slowly and rhythmically against the fabric of his trousers, his face blank and impassive — only the churning storm in his eyes betraying the obsession that still burned beneath the surface.

At the very back of the crowd, Cole stood in the shadow of a tree, dressed in a black trench coat, a hat and sunglasses obscuring his face. He stared at the woman on the stage — bright, brilliant, and untouchable — his body rigid and rooted to the spot. He stood there until the ceremony ended and the crowd began to disperse. Then he turned and walked away, step by step, melting into the flow of foot traffic on the street and leaving no trace that he had ever been there at all.

The autumn wind in Boston carried the sharp, bittersweet scent of maple leaves mingled with the faint, briny tang of the Charles River.

𝖣𝘰𝘸ո𝗹𝗈𝘢𝗱 P𝗗𝖥𝘴 𝘧𝗿e𝘦 on g𝗮𝗹nоv𝘦𝘭𝘀.𝖼о𝘮

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