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He pushed the door open and stepped inside He hts The kitchen was spiffed up and as he inhaled, he definitely detected so he was on to so

As it was a bit chilly outside that evening, he was certain Sylvie wasn’t planning a terrace dinner Perhaps she’d decided to utilize the dining roo table to spread out her paperwork that she wanted to go over with him

He started in that direction However, when the doorway to the dining rooht, he noticed the door was alh the crack Sylvie had planned a candlelight dinner for him?

As soon as the thought ca ro a relationship In fact, that was the last thing he wanted

His personal life was a disaster He ht have won full ownership of the Bartolini estate but he’d lost what made it special—his family In truth, he hadn’t even won control of it He’d won out of default His sisters didn’t want the place They’d rather move far away and start over Not that he could bla their mother’s journal

But he wasn’t going to think about that now Right now he needed to ht’s dinner

He pushed the door open There was a single candle lit in the vast room He squinted into the darkness “Sylvie?”

The lights flicked on,him

“Surprise!” It wasn’t just Sylvie’s voice but a whole host of voices

When his sight adjusted, he glanced around Crowded into the dining room were all the workers frohbors And then his gaze rested on Sylvie

His jaw htened He didn’t want to celebrate his birthday Not at all

But everyone looked at hi smile on their faces and expectation in their eyes He was certain they all had better things to do with their time, but they’d taken time out of their lives to come here to celebrate his birthday They didn’t know that this year of all years he didn’t have the heart to celebrate

Still, he forced a smile to his face Many of these people had worked for his family for decades He owed them more than a fake smile, but it was the most he could do at this particular moment

And then he w

as sed up in thehi him a happy birthday