The auditorium buzzed with quiet energy, the kind of stillness just before a storm of applause.
Hope stood backstage, fingers wrapped tightly around a copy of her book. The Fire Within Her was embossed in copper across the black linen cover, the title catching light each time she shifted it in her hands.
Tonight was the official launch.
Her launch.
Outside those velvet curtains sat over five hundred guests: authors, activists, educators, former Seed Center students, and friends from every corner of her journey. But Hope didn’t look for any of them.
She looked for her family.
Cassie and Damon sat in the front row, Grace between them with wide eyes and pink headphones for noise. Ayden stood just offstage with the twins, rocking them gently as music played over the speakers.
Ethan and
