“This is your home now, if you’d like,” Alexander said, leading her inside. The house was warm and inviting, filled with laughter and the scent of freshly baked cookies. Servants and staff welcomed her with smiles, each one making her feel as if she’d always belonged there.

Over the weeks that followed, Emily bloomed like a flower in the sun. Alexander, who had once been alone himself, found that his life was considerably fuller with her around. He enrolled her in a good school, encouraged her dreams, and filled her days with love and learning—the kind she’d never known in her father’s absence.

Though the shadows of the past still lurked, they became less daunting with each day. Emily kept her father’s memory alive, not with sadness, but with the stories she shared with Alexander about him.