I told him I hadn’t come to prove him wrong. I had come because Theo asked me to, and because a door that had once been closed deserved to be walked through on my own terms. For once, I didn’t need my father’s approval to understand where I belonged.

I stayed for one dance with the bride before stepping outside into the cool night. Rain fell softly, just as it had twenty-three years earlier when I was sent away. But this time, I stood beneath it without feeling the old weight. I had carried my father’s words for most of my life, and somewhere between the toast and the terrace, I finally set them down. My place card still read only Vivian Hartwell. For the first time, that name was enough.