“To new beginnings and better choices.” Leonard raised his glass like a judge banging the gavel, and everyone at the round table clinked on cue. Marcello’s hummed with Tuesday-night chatter; outside, a small American flag sticker on the valet podium fluttered each time the door swung open. Cassidy—red dress, soft smile sharpened to a point—listed my life like a manifest: the house, the car, the room I’d turned into a studio after quitting my job “for family.” Josephine nodded along as if the uni