Epilogue

Epilogue
Mark's POV

Three Years Later

Out of all the years, I didnt think that this day would come when I had to say 'goodbye' to my daughter. She may have her own temper and attitude which most people say that she gets from me. The female version of me. She gave me a hard time, but I love her regardless.

She was a tiny in my arms when she was born and now she is grown. She is ready for the journey ahead. I know that she doesn't want to do business but it will be worth it for her at the end of the day.

Everyone else is scattered around, the kids arguing with each other as Mason stands with me, watching them. Mason is three years old. He always wants to be around me and I love him just as much as I love the others. I do not want to shed any tears as Lana walks down the stairs with her satchel and some other things. I have already packed her suitcases in the back of my car. I will be flying with her in my private jet to New York to get her settled in for university.

I bought an apartment for her already there and I plan to buy her a car so that it is easier for her to get to campus. I really do not want to leave her all by herself, but I know that sooner or later I have to let go of my little girl. She told me that she was going to do the whole business thing for me. I was happy about it.

"So this is goodbye." she says to us. Everyone else gets to hug her.

"Just remember that we are always here for you. Call us when you need us." Gray says to her.

"I know, mom. I know that I can always call you for advice too. I will miss you." Lana says. They hug each other again.

She talks to the rest of her siblings as Gray stands beside me. "I will miss her." she says.

"Me too. I don't know how I will be able to think about anything else while worrying about her." I say.

" It's hard, but we will get used to it."

"I hope so, she will forever be my little girl. Our miracle that happened and brought everything together. She was the start of our family. She is still the tough cookie that she is. She is strong and she will make it on her own from here on. I don't want to let her go but, I have to, it's the hardest day of my life. I think the hardest day will be when I have to walk her down the aisle one day and sometimes, when I think about it, I hope that she doesn't. But I want her to be happy with someone that she loves and is respectful towards her. Someone that will treat her like a princess, better yet, a queen. I hope that she has what we have." I say as blink back the tears.

" I'm happy that you are letting go. It is hard for me too, but she is getting older and she has to learn more about life as we did. I don't wish any challenges that we had on her. I don't want her to go through the same horrible things that we had to endure. She will face heartaches and she cannot avoid that. It is part of life. I know that you want to protect her from everything as you tried with me, but you can't always be around to protect or to mend her broken heart. It took me two months of heartbreak to heal again on my own without being around you and seeing you." she says, and I look at her. She has tears in her eyes. I wish that I could turn back time and undo all the hurt that I have caused her.

" I'm sorry for all of that. But I have always wanted you since the first day that you walked into my office." I say as I wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer to me.

"I have always wanted you since I was twelve, but all of this is my dream come true. Sometimes, I have to pinch myself so that I know I'm not dreaming." she smiles at me.

"You really saved me from a miserable life." I say.

"Well, despite all of the challenges, we have a happy life." I lean down and place a chaste kiss against her lips.

"Mom and dad, please get a room!" Jordan calls out.

I smile as I pull away. "We are only kissing." I say to them.

"What time are we leaving?" Lana asks.

"In the next thirty minutes." I say.

The time just keeps on going fast as Lana and I will leave soon. I wish that I could pause the time. While she has her own journey, I will be seeing to my other kids. I want to know what they want to do in life. I have been so focused on Lana, to get her to study business and take over Sternpoint that I didn't bother about asking the others about what they wanted to do.

I tried not to be controlling, but eventually, Lana came around. I hate it when I am told that I am being controlling because that is not my intention. When I set my mind to something, then it is final with me. No one can change anything about it. Gray has been the balance in everything in our family. We have always been spending time with Weston so that he wouldn't feel left out.

He enjoyed it and we tried to do that with the other kids too, but Jordan felt awkward about it so he just did his own things. I moved him to a different school ever since he got punched. He was enjoying school and his new football team.

I hate to think that I am getting older and our friends have been great to us. They are living their own lives and they still help us out with our kids when needed.

My life has turned out to be imperfectly perfect. With a strong woman by my side, we are always unbreakable and I wouldn't have it any other way. It is one of many things in my life that I am proud of. My family is my everything and I will do whatever it takes to keep us all together. We will never break apart as many families have, and with our experience. I love to do things differently to improve from the mistakes that were made within our family when we were younger. We need to improve to make things better.



Gray's POV

My daughter is leaving for the first time and I don't know how to feel about it. I have always tried my best to be on her side when it came to Mark. He was always on her case when it came to the business and I tried to change his mind about his decision, so that she could do what she wanted to do. Over the past three years, Mark and I had arguments about it, but I knew that I would never win that specific argument.

I wish that I could've fought harder for her. She came to him and told him that she would do it. She felt like she didn't have a choice. If it's what she was sure about, then I would support her and be here for her when she needs me. She finds it hard to speak to Mark because of the personality clashes between the two of them. They are very much the same.

I want her to be happy. She is the first child of ours to leave the house. I never even imagined that I would have five kids. All of my time and energy went into them. It was hard but I managed with the help of Mark. Most of the time, I would work from home so that I could take care of the kids. We simply didn't want any help from a nanny.

"We should get going." Mark says to Lana and my heart pulls because this is real.

"Bye, mom. I love you." Lana says as she hugs me. I close my eyes, cherishing this moment with her. I pull away.

"I love you more." I smile at her. Mark opens the door and he froze.

"What are you doing here?" he asks harshly. I walk towards the door and I see that Ivy was standing there.

"I would just like to talk to you and Gray." she says. She looks beautiful and I didn't know that she came out of the mental institution.

"Now is not a good time." He says.

"Dad, we need to leave." Lana says, and Mark turns around to look at us. Ivy's eyes fall on Lana and I can see that she wished it could've been their daughter. But she had a little smile.

"Just give it five more minutes." I say. "You can wait for your father outside while we speak to this lady." I say to Lana.

"Okay." she says, and we follow her further into the lounge as she gets her things.

"Kids, please wait with Lana outside while we talk and please take Mason with you." Mark says.

The kids went outside and I could see the way that Ivy looked at them. "You may take a seat." I say as I sit down on the sofa and Mark joins me. Ivy takes a seat on the recliner.

"Your family is beautiful." she says. "I came here to make things right and to apologize. I have already spoken to Gray when she came to visit me at the mental institution, but I had already lost everything. I loved Mark so much that I would've done anything to keep him. I knew once I was in that place that there was nothing more to do and I made peace with that. I was in there for a long time and I decided to get better. I wanted a happy life and I knew that it wouldn't be with Mark. So when I got out, I went back into business when my father died, sadly. I met the man that I fell in love with. We are married and we have two kids. Everyday, it ate me up inside and I told my husband about what I tried to do and the type of person that I was. He accepted and loved me. I needed that. I didn't get that from Mark. I tried to force that from him. Now I am happy and I just wanted to apologize and you do not have to worry about me at all. This is the first and the last time that you will ever see me again, but I just wanted to get that off my chest." she says, looking between the both of us.

"I can accept that." I say, but Mark remains silent.

"If you can't forgive me, Mark, Then I understand." she says.

"I forgive you because life is too short. You are happy and so am I. We both have the lives that we always wanted. I am happy that you found love and have a family." Mark says.

"You have a beautiful family. I see so much of you in them." She says to Mark. "We shared that part for a little time before we lost it."

I know that she is referring to the child they lost. It stirred up emotions in me because of that. I don't know how Mark is feeling but his jaw is clenched and his brows are furrowed after that. "Thank you." I say to her.

"Anyway, I won't be taking up most of your time. Take care." she says as she gets up and she walks out the door.

"Are you okay?" I ask Mark.

"I am. I'm just surprised that she came and told us all of that. I am happy with what we have." he looks at me. "I have this with the woman that I love, nothing is going to change that." he smiles at me.

"We are better together, we are a team and that is how it will always be." I smile at him.

Our journey together has been rough. We sailed our boat through the storm and on the stormy seas. We never gave up. We held onto each other when it felt like our boat would turn upside down and we would drown in the ocean with its rough waves. We trusted each other and believed. We overcame each obstacle that was designed to break us apart. That is what I admire about us; our love stands through each test. This is my dream come true and my happiness. Together we will continue to sail our boat and to climb that mountain hand in hand.

That mountain represents all of our obstacles that we still need to conquer ahead. What better way to do it with the love of my life? I will do anything with him. We are a team and we are doing this together. Our marriage isn't a bed of roses, but that is what makes it sweet. There will be a lot of sunshine after a lot of rain and thunderstorms. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have Mark, but the universe has a funny way of making dreams come true. My heart has always been set on him and no one else, and now...I have him. We fit together perfectly like a puzzle. I am the happiest that I have ever been in my life. I will always have the one person that I love by my side until it's our last breath.

The End