Chapter 68

Aria's POV

The first three months of maternity leave were harder than I expected.

Not because of Kira. She was challenging but wonderful. Learning her rhythms, watching her grow, seeing her start to focus and respond to voices.

The hard part was letting go of the school.

Beth sent weekly reports. Enrollment stable. No major incidents. Council meetings proceeding smoothly. Everything running fine without me.

Which should have been reassuring but instead made me feel unnecessary.

"You're not unnecessary," Drogo insisted when I voiced this. "You built something sustainable. That's a success, not a failure."

"It feels like failure. Like I'm replaceable."

"Everyone is replaceable in administrative roles....