Mara and Elise: Your Fireworks Have Nothing to Do with Me
READING AGE 4+
At the Bellwether Cove waterfront, my closest friend and my sister-in-law announced their engagement beneath a fireworks sequence I had designed, then thanked each other for making it happen. I had spent eleven months building that show for the town's summer festival, and I'd agreed to let the festival use it—not to turn it into a private celebration or erase my name from the work. When I asked Mara Bell and Elise Ward to stop the launch, the crowd was watching, the safety systems were live, and my company's future depended on the contract they wanted me to sign. I could still protect the work, but only by risking the jobs of the people who trusted me. If I refused to give the couple what they wanted, would either of them choose me over the perfect night they had planned?
Unfold
I watched the harbor from the edge of the festival pier while the town's winter lights flickered on across the water.
Brightwater's insurance stayed active. The company was smaller now, and the office had one empty desk where Mara's things had been. I had bought out her share at the appraised value, with a payment plan that would take f……
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