“It has to be the grand prize.

They assured me.”

I couldn’t answer.

My eyes were locked on Coraline, who sat clapping with polite, measured warmth for every child who crossed the stage, no anxiety anywhere in her — a woman who had already won her war and was simply enjoying the peace of it.

Then the stage went dark.

Two golden spotlights ignited and swept the audience and converged on a single row in the competitors’ section.

“And now the moment you’ve been waiting for,” the host said, his voice trembling with real excitement.