Chapter 6: A Child’s Gratitude**
Three days later, Elena’s fever finally broke. While she rested under the care of a private nurse in the sunlit guest suite, Nora spent her afternoons in Arthur’s massive library.
Arthur had moved his workstation from the downtown corporate tower to the mansion, holding video conferences while Nora sat quietly on a plush rug nearby, drawing pictures with a set of colored pencils Arthur had ordered for her.
During a break between calls, Arthur walked over and sat on the edge of the sofa. “What are you drawing, Nora?”
Nora proudly lifted a sheet of paper. On it was a crude stick-figure drawing of a very tall man in a dark blue rectangle, holding hands with a tiny girl in a blue dress, surrounded by yellow scribbles.
“That’s you,” Nora pointed with her crayon. “And that’s me. And these are the suns because your house is always bright now.”
Arthur felt an unexpected warmth spread across his chest. In the cutthroat corporate world, people gave him awards, plaques, and flattering speeches, but none of them felt as authentic as this messy, crayon-stained sheet of paper.
“Why did you draw me smiling?” Arthur asked softly. “People usually say I look angry.”
“Because you saved my Mama’s job,” Nora said, leaning her head against his knee. “And you didn’t yell at me for the water on the floor. My daddy used to smile like that before he went to the stars.”
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Arthur swallowed hard, resting a gentle, protective hand on her small shoulder. He had spent ten years building a financial fortress to keep the world out, never realizing how desperately he needed someone to let in.
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