2026-06-25 09:47:32
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Chapter 378: Congratulations, Mayor Gray
Selina stood at the end of the aisle in whiteHer gown had the entire room transfixed on her, the white catching light and holding it back. The long sleeves had beautiful floral embroidery, swirling pattern fitted to the waist as well. The fabric pooled behind her, giving her a regal look. And two bright points that hung from her ears that turned out to be diamond earrings on closer inspection.She moved slowly, flowers in hand.Three hundred people were looking at her. Gray didn't notice any of them. She took the first step. Then the next. The quartet played something slow and clean and the notes seemed to arrive late, trailing behind her like they were trying to keep up. Gray stood at the front with his hands at his sides. Ben was beside him. The minister was behind him. Lily and Eli were to his left, Lily holding her empty basket, Eli still gripping the ring pillow with both hands. To him, none of them existed right now. The garden, the chairs, the guests, the music. All of it p
Chapter 377: Flowers On The Aisle
Gray's hands were steady until the tie.He stood in the groom's suite at the venue, a converted estate house twenty minutes outside the city with high ceilings and tall windows and gardens that Selina had picked after a single visit. The room was small with wooden floors and a full-length mirror he was trying not to look at. His navy suit jacket hung on a rack behind him. The shirt was white and already buttoned and he'd gotten through every step without a problem until the tie.His fingers wouldn't cooperate. He looped it, pulled, looped again. Wrong knot. Too short. He undid it and started over.A knock on the door that opened before he answered.Ben walked in wearing a charcoal suit that fit him better than anything Gray had ever seen him in. His hair was combed. His shoes were polished. He looked like a man who had spent two hours getting ready and would never admit it."You look like you're defusing a bomb," Ben said."It's this damn tie," Gray said.Ben crossed the room, took t
Chapter 376: The System Remembers
The hashtag wouldn't die. Three weeks after election night and #GrayforMayor was still climbing. National outlets had even picked it up. A political commentator on a morning show Gray had never watched called him "the most interesting non-candidate in the country." A university in Ohio invited him to give a commencement speech to which he swiftly declined. Gray sat on the couch in the condo with his phone face-down on the cushion beside him. The TV was on but muted. A news ticker scrolled across the bottom of the screen with his name in it. He'd stopped reading those three days ago. Lily was in the kitchen arguing with Eli about flowers. "Roses are boring," Lily said. She had a wedding magazine open on the counter, the pages flagged with so many sticky notes it looked like the thing had grown feathers. "Everyone does roses. We need something with personality." "Roses have personality," Eli said. "No they don't. Roses are what you buy when you don't think about it." Eli sat acro
Chapter 375: Best Man
The first branch of DavGro Market looked the same as the day Gray had opened it. The same layout, same hand-painted sign above the entrance that Lily had insisted on keeping even after they could afford a real one. The parking lot was full. A Tuesday morning and the parking lot was full.Gray stood outside for a moment before going in. Daniel was parked at the curb. Mara was already inside handling something with the inventory system. She'd arrived thirty minutes early. She always did now, like punctuality was a form of penance.He pushed through the front doors.The store smelled like fresh produce and floor cleaner and the cheap air freshener Ben kept plugged in near register three because he said it "set the tone." Gray's favorite smell in any building he'd ever walked into.Staff were scattered across the floor. Rowan restocking dairy. Two new hires whose names Gray had barely memorized last week sorting returns near the back. A few cashiers chatting between customers at the front
Chapter 374: A Gift of Goodwill
The Davenport Building hadn't changed. The same lobby, same security desk, same polished stone underfoot. But the tenth floor felt different the moment Gray stepped off the elevator.Marielle Vaughn's name was gone from the directory plaque outside the executive suite. Her office, the corner one she'd claimed six months into her relationship with Jonathan, had been cleared out.Gray noticed. He didn't ask.Daniel waited in the lobby downstairs since Gray had told him twenty minutes. This wouldn't take long.Jonathan's assistant, a new hire Gray didn't recognize, led him down the corridor. The woman knocked twice on Jonathan's door, opened it without waiting, and stepped aside.Jonathan Davenport stood behind his desk in a navy suit that fit like it had been stitched onto him that morning. His hair was thinner than the last time Gray had seen him. The skin around his eyes was loose. But he was standing straight, and when he saw Gray, he crossed the room with his hand out."Gray." His g
Chapter 373: Blessings
Gray finally told her in the car.Not in any way he'd planned. Daniel was pulling onto the highway toward Nine Seas District and Selina was scrolling through messages on her phone when he said it."I want to ask your grandfather for his blessing."Selina's thumb stopped mid-scroll. She looked at him. Then she looked at him longer, like she was checking whether he'd said what she thought he said."Today? Tell me you're joking" she said."Right now."She put her phone in her lap. Her lips pressed together, but the corners were pulling, fighting something she couldn't keep down. She turned toward the window."Well then" she said. Quiet. Almost nothing to it.But her reflection in the glass was smiling so hard her eyes were nearly shut.Everett Tower caught the late afternoon sun across its top floors. The lobby was the way Gray remembered it from that first visit. Marble floors. High ceilings. Security that recognized Selina before she reached the desk.They took the private elevator. Se
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