Chapter 19 — Grace Gets the Childhood She Deserved
# The Girl Who Ran Into the Mafia
## Chapter 19 — Grace Gets the Childhood She Deserved
Two years later, Grace celebrated her twelfth birthday.
For the first time in her life...
There were balloons.
Friends.
Birthday cake.
Laughter.
No fear.
Sophia baked the cake herself.
Damian spent the entire morning decorating the backyard despite insisting he wasn't good at parties.
Grace laughed every time she caught him hanging another banner crooked.
That afternoon, Damian handed her a small wrapped box.
Inside was the restored silver locket.
The photograph had been professionally preserved.
Behind it was a new picture.
Grace standing between Sophia and Damian.
She looked up with tears in her eyes.
"Our first real family picture."
Damian nodded.
"And the beginning of many more."
Grace hugged both of them tightly.
The little girl who had once arrived covered in bruises now laughed freely beneath the summer sun.
Her childhood had finally begun.
