Chapter 157 A Gift from the Past

Chapter 157 A Gift from the Past
Evan was still holding his phone, his brow deeply furrowed. Rico’s words from the call were completely beyond anything he had expected. A giant wooden swing? Carved with their names? And shipped from an address that was officially “dead”?

“Evan, tell me,” Alice pressed. She stood right in front of him, trying to peek at the screen of his phone. “Who would send something that big to the port?”

Evan let out a long breath, then handed his phone to Alice. “Rico just sent a photo of the shipping label. Look at it.”

Alice took the phone. Her eyes scanned the lines of text on the screen. The sender was listed as a law firm in Switzerland, but beneath it was a personal name they both knew all too well.

“Selena?” Alice whispered. “The Selena who used to work for the Smith family?”

“Yes. She disappeared not long after Edwin’s downfall. Many people thought she was dead or hiding somewhere unreachable,” Evan said. He walked out to the balcony, staring into the darkness of the night with an unexpected sense of relief. “Turns out she settled overseas and started a new life.”

Alice zoomed in on the photo Rico had sent. It showed a stunning teakwood swing, intricately carved with intertwining jasmine flowers and oak branches along its backrest. At the center of the carving were the names Evan and Alice, written in elegant, classic lettering.

“She knows everything about our lost childhoods, Evan. She witnessed how our families fell apart,” Alice said softly, her fingers brushing the phone screen as if touching the wood itself. “This is not just a gift. It’s an apology, and a hope.”

“Rico said there’s a letter inside the shipping crate,” Evan replied. He wrapped his arms around Alice from behind. “He’ll bring it tomorrow morning, along with the swing, to the beach house. At least now we know that one person who was once trapped in Edwin’s darkness has found her own light.”

Two Days Later: The Beach House.

The delivery truck stopped in the wide yard of the Nathaniel family’s beach house. Bright morning sunlight reflected off the calm surface of the sea. Rico directed several workers as they carefully unloaded a massive wooden crate from the back of the truck.

Evan and Alice stood on the veranda, while Lucas rested in a front carrier strapped to Evan’s chest. The baby looked fascinated by the activity, his small hands repeatedly patting his father’s arm.

“Careful, Rico. Don’t let it get scratched,” Evan called out.

“Yes, sir. This thing is incredibly heavy. Solid old teak,” Rico replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.

After an hour of hard work, the swing was finally installed securely in the corner of the back garden, directly facing the ocean. Its chains were made of stainless steel, wrapped in velvet fabric to make them comfortable to hold.

Alice stepped closer and traced her fingers over the carved letters of her name. “It’s so smooth. She must have commissioned the finest craftsmen.”

Rico approached them and handed Alice a dark blue envelope. “This letter was included in the shipment, ma’am.”

Alice opened it and read it together with Evan.

“To Evan and Alice, I am writing this from a small village in the Alps. I have left behind all my old identities. This swing is a replica of the one your parents once planned to build in the backyard of the Elino house before the tragedy happened. I carried that image in my memory for years. Use this swing to watch your children grow up in a peace we never had. Do not look for me. I am happy here.”

Alice leaned her head against Evan’s shoulder, silent tears slipping down her cheeks. “She remembered Papa’s dream, Evan.”

“We’ll take care of it, Alice. This swing will be where Lucas plays one day,” Evan said gently.

Life at the beach house felt completely different from the main residence in the city. There was no traffic noise, no packed meeting schedules. Lavina and Zavian stayed there as well, enjoying the fresh sea air.

That afternoon, Lavina sat on the new swing, gently rocking Lucas in her arms.

“This swing is very comfortable, Alice. You should sit here in the afternoon,” Lavina said.

“I will, Grandma. I’ll bring my painting supplies out here later,” Alice replied as she prepared a plate of fruit snacks on the garden table.

Zavian came out of the house wearing shorts and a linen shirt, a sight that still felt surreal to Evan. The former business titan now held a baby bottle more often than stock reports.

“Evan, I just checked the monthly reports on my phone. Everything is stable. You really could retire early if you wanted to,” Zavian said as he sat down on a lounge chair.

“I already have, Dad. I’ll only oversee the big things,” Evan replied, sitting down on the grass and letting his feet touch the ground. “I want to enjoy every heartbeat in this house without interruption.”

“Good. That’s the best decision you’ve ever made as a Nathaniel,” Zavian said, nodding in approval.

The closeness between Evan and Alice felt even more real in this place. Without shadows of enemies or looming threats, they felt like two people falling in love all over again.

In the late afternoon, as the sun dipped low and painted the sky in shades of orange, Evan invited Alice to sit with him on Selena’s swing. Lucas was already asleep in his stroller beside them.

“Do you remember the first time you brought me to this beach house?” Alice asked, resting her head against Evan’s broad chest.

“I remember. You were terrified and thought I was a monster,” Evan chuckled softly as he pushed the swing gently with his foot.

“Well, you were a little scary back then. But now, you’re just a terrible father when it comes to changing diapers,” Alice teased.

“Hey. I’m much better now. Even Rico praised me,” Evan protested, making Alice laugh brightly.

They sat in silence for a long while, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks below. There was no fear of sudden attacks anymore. No hidden eyes watching from the trees. Their lives had reached a pure, clean beginning.

“Evan, thank you for never letting go of my hand,” Alice whispered.

Evan turned and looked deeply into her eyes. “Thank you for becoming my home, Alice. Without you, I might still be a cold man who only cared about numbers and power.”

Evan leaned in and kissed Alice softly and slowly. A kiss that carried a promise of loyalty and the peace they had fought for with blood and tears.

Night fell. They had dinner on the terrace under a sky full of stars. Zavian and Lavina chatted happily about their simpler past, while Evan and Alice focused on feeding Lucas, who was just starting to learn how to hold a spoon on his own.

“Look, he’s aiming the spoon at your nose, Evan,” Alice laughed.

Evan wiped the banana puree off his nose. “He definitely inherited his terrible sense of humor from his grandfather.”

“Hey, I heard that,” Zavian called from the next table, making Lavina laugh.

After dinner, when Lucas was fast asleep in his room, Evan took Alice for a walk along the shoreline. Cold seawater touched their bare feet. The world was quiet, filled only with the sound of nature.

“Do you feel like something is missing, Alice?” Evan asked suddenly.

Alice stopped and looked out at the vast ocean. “Nothing. I have you, I have Lucas, and our family is whole. What more could I ask for?”

“Maybe… one more thing,” Evan said. He pulled Alice into his arms. “I want us to renew our vows here. Just the two of us. No guests, no cameras. Only this sea as our witness.”

Alice smiled through tears. “I want that, Evan. I really do.”

They stood beneath the moonlight reflecting on the water. Evan held both of Alice’s hands.

“Alice Smith Nathaniel, I promise to remain your protector, your partner, and a good father to our children. I promise there will be no more secrets between us, and I will make sure every day of your future is filled only with laughter,” Evan said firmly.

Alice nodded, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. “And I, Alice, promise to always be the place you come home to. I will love you in this peace, just as I loved you in the storms we survived.”

They held each other tightly, as if becoming one with the night itself. This peace was real. This happiness belonged entirely to them.

Back at the house, Evan helped Alice wash the sand from her feet. They returned to the master bedroom, leaving the window slightly open so the sound of the waves could drift inside.

Evan lay down beside Alice and pulled the blanket over them both. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, breathing in the familiar scent of her hair that always calmed him.

“Go to sleep, Alice. Tomorrow we’ll teach Lucas how to touch the seawater for the first time,” Evan whispered.

“I can’t wait to see his expression,” Alice murmured before drifting off in her husband’s embrace.

The night felt perfectly still. But in the depth of his sleep, Evan felt the phone on the bedside table vibrate once. He tried not to wake, but the vibration came again, then again.

With a quiet sigh, Evan reached for the phone, his eyes half closed. He assumed it was an automated message from the office or a weather alert. But when he unlocked the screen, he saw a notification from a global asset tracking app he had not opened in a long time.

Evan sat upright in bed, trying to process the data displayed on the screen. The calm on his face vanished, replaced by pure disbelief. He glanced at Alice, still asleep, then back at the phone.

“Alice… wake up for a moment,” Evan whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.

Alice groaned softly and opened her eyes. “What is it, Evan? It’s the middle of the night…”

Evan held the phone out to her. “Do you remember the document called ‘The Final Fragment of the Smith Fortune’ that we refused at the gate back then? The international banking authorities just sent a mandatory notification. They said because we declined to claim it, the assets were automatically transferred into Lucas’s name as sole owner. And the amount… the amount is enough to buy a small country.”