Chapter 220
Chapter 220
Epilogue – One Year Later
The waves crashed gently against the shore as sunlight bathed the sand in a golden glow.
Ryan ran ahead, laughing, his tiny footprints dotting the shoreline while Liam chased after him, shouting playfully.
“Ryan, not too far!”
But Ryan only giggled louder, holding his little red bucket as if it were a treasure chest.
I stood barefoot on the deck of our beach house, coffee in hand, belly round and full with our daughter—due in just a few weeks.
And for the first time in years, life was quiet.
Not the tense silence of secrets and danger.
But the kind of quiet that felt like home.
\---
After everything we’d endured—the lies, the betrayal, Maeve’s manipulations, Rourke’s vengeance—it almost didn’t seem real that we’d made it here.
But we had.
Together.
Gabrielle had taken over the remaining shares of Rourke’s dismantled firm, turning it into a women-led consulting group. She visited often, always armed with wine, sarcasm, and stories from the city.
Marcus now worked as Liam’s personal head of security—though he spent most of his time babysitting Ryan and pretending he hated it.
As for Maeve?
She was last spotted in Morocco under a different name. The authorities hadn’t pursued her aggressively. I think even the system understood—some wars aren’t worth reliving.
Sometimes, disappearing is punishment enough.
\---
I walked down the beach slowly, one hand resting on my belly.
Liam looked up as I approached, his smile spreading as he scooped Ryan into his arms.
“Look who finally decided to join us,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Hey, someone had to pack the snacks.”
Ryan reached out to touch my stomach. “Is she still kicking?”
“Like a tiny ninja,” I said, placing his little palm over the side where our daughter squirmed.
He gasped. “She kicked me!”
Liam grinned. “That’s her way of saying hello.”
We sat together on the sand, our legs tangled, sun warm on our skin.
I leaned my head against Liam’s shoulder. “Do you ever miss the chaos?”
He chuckled. “Sometimes. But then I remember how close I came to losing you. I think peace suits us.”
I smiled. “Me too.”
He turned to look at me, his hand finding mine in the sand. “Do you ever think about everything we went through? How we almost didn’t make it?”
“All the time,” I whispered. “But maybe that’s what makes this so precious. We fought for it. We didn’t just fall into love—we chose it. Again and again.”
He kissed my forehead. “I’d choose you in every lifetime.”
I blinked back tears. “Even when I mistook you for Avery the first time we met?”
He laughed. “Especially then. You were fire and fury. And I was already a goner.”
Ryan wrinkled his nose. “Eww, are you guys being all mushy again?”
Liam ruffled his hair. “You better get used to it, champ. This is what love looks like.”
Ryan looked thoughtful, then nodded. “Okay. But can we still have cake later?”
I burst out laughing. “Of course we can. It’s our anniversary, after all.”
\---
Later that evening, after Ryan had fallen asleep in a sandy heap on the couch, Liam and I sat out on the deck, wrapped in a blanket.
The stars were bright above us. The ocean stretched endlessly beyond.
He pulled something small from his pocket and handed it to me.
A velvet box.
Inside? A simple band of rose gold with three stones—one for him, one for me, and a tiny one in the middle.
“For her,” he said softly, placing a hand on my belly.
I stared at the ring, heart catching in my throat.
“I thought we weren’t doing this again until after she’s born.”
“I couldn’t wait,” he murmured. “I just wanted you to have it. To remember… this is the life we made. The one we never thought we could have.”
I slid the ring on beside my wedding band.
Perfect fit.
“I love you,” I whispered, tears slipping down my cheeks.
He kissed them away. “And I’ll keep loving you—even when we’re old and gray and yelling at each other over crossword puzzles.”
I laughed through the tears.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
\---
In the end, it wasn’t the empire that defined us.
Not the scandals, not the money, not even the pain.
It was the choice to love.
To stay.
To fight for each other when the world tried to tear us apart.
And in that choice, we found everything.