A Map of a War I Won

Chapter 7: The View from the Top

A year to the day after the night I nearly died, I stood on the balcony of my new apartment. It’s on the forty-second floor of a building I helped design—one where the foundations are solid and the glass is clear.

The city of Riverside stretched out before me, a sea of gold and amber lights. The scars on my ribs are still there, thin white lines only I can see. They don’t feel like marks of shame anymore.

They feel like a map of a war I won.

The balcony door opened, and Liam walked out carrying two cups of coffee.

“You’re thinking too hard again,” he said, leaning against the railing. “I can hear the gears turning from the kitchen.”

I smiled, taking the cup. “I was just thinking about the ledger, Liam. Everything in life has a cost. For a long time, I was paying a debt I didn’t owe.”