Chapter 15 - THE BIRTHDAY HE NEVER MISSED AGAIN
One year after Nora collapsed on the marble staircase, Luca planned a birthday dinner.
Not a gala.
Not a room full of powerful men.
Just Nora.
Lily.
And him.
The dining room was decorated with blue flowers.
A small chocolate cake sat in the center of the table.
Lily had insisted on purple candles.
Nora laughed when she saw them.
“Purple?”
Lily nodded seriously.
“Purple is better.”
Luca smiled.
“I was overruled.”
Nora looked at him.
Then at the cake.
Then at Lily.
Her eyes filled.
“What's wrong?” Luca asked.
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
He stepped closer.
“Nora.”
She smiled through tears.
“It's just…”
Her voice broke.
“Last year, I sat alone.”
Luca's expression softened.
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“And now I'm not.”
He took her hand.
“No.”
Lily tugged Nora's sleeve.
“Aunt Nora, make a wish!”
Nora closed her eyes.
For a moment, she remembered the cold rain.
The empty restaurant.
The blue dress.
The staircase.
The hospital bracelet.
The loneliness she'd carried without knowing how to put it down.
Then she opened her eyes.
She looked at Lily.
At Luca.
At the home they'd built.
And smiled.
“I already have everything I wished for.”
Luca kissed her forehead.
“Happy birthday, Nora.”
She leaned into him.
“Thank you.”
Lily clapped.
“Cake!”
They laughed.
And as the candles flickered, Nora understood something.
Love wasn't the mansion.
Or the money.
Or the security guards outside the gates.
It was a husband who showed up.
A child who felt safe.
A table where nobody waited alone.
And a life where she no longer had to hide her burdens.
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For the first time, Nora Ferraro didn't feel like a guest in her own marriage.
She felt home.
