Olivia – Present Day, Age 32

10 YEARS LATER ….

Sometimes, time doesn’t heal. It just softens the pain over time.

The email sat in my inbox like a ghost.

>Subject: Invitation – Annual Hope Foundation Gala<

~From: Lucian Grant.~

His name alone knocked the wind out of me. I hadn’t seen him in ten years. Not even a message. He didn’t appear on the headline either. But here it was, bold and unread, glowing on my laptop screen like it had every right to still exist in my life.

I didn’t open it right away.

Instead, I closed the laptop, poured myself a glass of red wine, and stared...