EPILOGUE
JULIAN
Seven Months Later
I have negotiated million-dollar deals. I have stood in boardrooms filled with people waiting for me to make decisions that would alter the course of their lives. I have built an empire from the ground up, on my own.
None of that prepared me for this.
The delivery room is surprisingly quiet, bathed in low, soft lighting that does nothing to ease the brutal tension twisting in my chest.
I stand right by the head of the bed, my fingers locked with Olivia’s so tightly my knuckles are white.
I don’t care about the grip crushing my hand.
I only care about her and our baby. We don’t know if we’re having a boy or a girl since we wanted the gender to be a surprise, but none of that matters right now. I just need them both safe.
“You’re doing incredible, Olivia,” I whisper, my voice rough as I lean down to press my forehead against hers. I use my free hand to brush the damp, dark curls away from her face, I wish I could take a fraction of this exhaustion from her.
“Just a little more, Love. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
The doctor sits at the foot of the bed, her expression calm, patient, and completely focused. “Next contraction, Olivia. I need one big push.”
Olivia gasps, her fingers clamping down on mine with a sudden, fierce strength that floors me.
She pours every ounce of her remaining energy into the effort, a low, primal sound tearing from her throat.
My heart hammers against my ribs. Watching her do this, knowing she’s enduring this to bring our daughter into the world, changes something inside me.
“The head is clear,” the doctor says, her steady voice anchoring the room. “One more, Olivia. Just one more.”
“I’ve got you,” I murmur against her temple, my own eyes burning as I look down at her beautiful, determined face. “You’re almost there, my love.”
Olivia takes one more ragged breath, knots her fingers in mine, and pushes with every single bit of strength she has left. A loud gasp leaves her lips, followed by a sudden, heavy silence that fills the entire room.
Then, the silence breaks.
A loud, healthy cry echoes in the delivery room.
“It’s a girl!” the doctor announces, a wide smile in her voice as she lifts the tiny baby.
“You have a beautiful daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne.”
Mrs. Thorne. Hearing it out loud still sends a jolt through my chest. I couldn’t wait to make Olivia mine.
We had a small, intimate wedding on our Blue Ridge Mountain estate just two months after the proposal, wanting to exchange vows before her pregnancy progressed too far.
Only our closest friends stood by our side.
My mother was away on one of her endless extended holidays, and my father was supposedly on a business trip.
Even retired, the man always found an excuse for those trips, though if you ask me, he was likely with a mistress.
We hardly keep in contact anyway, and I didn’t want their drama darkening our day.
But right now, the coldness of my past vanishes under the weight of the present.
The doctor’s words hit me like a physical blow, knocking all the air straight out of my lungs. A daughter.
The medical staff moves quickly and quietly, drying her off and wrapping her up, but the noise of the room fades away. I can’t move. I can’t take my eyes off the tiny, perfect miracle across the room, her small chest rising and falling as she lets out another sharp cry.
When they bring her over and lay her directly onto Olivia’s bare chest, my heart shatters and rebuilds itself in the span of a single second.
Olivia collapses back against the pillows, her chest heaving as she wraps her arms around our baby girl. She looks up at me through a heavy veil of tears, a soft, radiant smile breaking across her exhausted face.
I look at Olivia, then down at the little girl resting against her heart, and I’m paralyzed by the sheer amount of love flooding my heart. The two of them. My wife and my daughter. I stare at them, unable to look away, knowing right then and there that my life will never be the same.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Trent.
Any news?
My thumbs fly across the screen to type a reply. Yes, it’s a girl.
His answer comes back almost instantly. Congrats, dad.
Smiling, I slide the phone back into my pocket. I can talk to him later. Right now, my entire world is right here in front of me.
I step closer to the bed and reach out, brushing a damp strand of hair away from Olivia’s face. “You okay?”
A small, breathless laugh escapes her. “I just pushed a human being out of my body.”
An actual laugh leaves my throat, the sudden sound surprising both of us.
Then her eyes soften, melting with an emotion so pure it catches in my throat.
“She’s perfect.”
My heart stumbles. Our daughter. The words still don’t feel real.
The nurse approaches the side of the bed, carefully carrying a tiny bundle wrapped in a pink blanket. Everything inside me goes still.
“Would you like to hold her, Dad?” the nurse asks softly.
Dad. The word lands somewhere I don’t have a name for, knocking the wind right out of me.
I stare at the nurse, then down at the tiny bundle in her arms, and finally back at Olivia.
My wife smiles at me, the simple gold wedding band on her finger glinting beneath the harsh hospital lights. “Go on.”
My eyes burn. I carefully position my arms, and the nurse transfers my baby girl into my arms.
The exact moment I look down, my entire world shifts on its axis.
She’s tiny. So impossibly tiny. She has a tuft of dark hair, flush pink cheeks, a perfect little nose, and a face that somehow already owns every single piece of me. I can’t breathe or even think, I can only stare at her. Stare at this beautiful human being we created.
“Hi,” the word comes out broken, barely a whisper against the quiet of the room. “Hi, Cora.”
We had agreed weeks ago that if we had a boy, he would be Julius, and if we had a girl, she would be Cora. Seeing her now, there’s no doubt. She’s Cora. The name fits her tiny features perfectly.
Her eyes remain closed, but one tiny hand slips free from the swaddle of the blanket.
Without thinking, I offer the tip of my index finger. Her little fingers wrap around it instantly, locking on with a fragile, fierce grip.
The contact absolutely destroys me. A ragged breath leaves my lungs, and my vision blurs. For a second, I don’t even understand why, until something hot and wet slides down my cheek. It is a tear, followed immediately by another, and another.
I lower my head, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of what I’m holding. Across the room, I hear Olivia sniff softly. When I look up through the blur, she’s crying too. Neither of us says anything. There are no words for a moment like this; there never could be.
This isn’t just happiness. It is so much bigger than that. It is everything. It is every mistake I ever made, every scar I carry, every bitter regret, every fight, and every single nightmare that brought us to this exact room.
Cora makes a small sound, stretching her mouth into the tiniest little yawn.
I let out a wet laugh through my tears. Shit, I’m crying over a baby’s yawn.
Olivia smiles, wiping at her own eyes. “You love her already.”
I look down at my daughter, and then I look across at my wife. The two most important people in my universe. “More than anything.” My voice breaks on the words.
“So do I,” Olivia whispers.
I walk over to the edge of the bed, moving slowly and protectively, treating Cora as if she’s made of the finest glass. Olivia moves slightly to make room, and I sit down right beside her. Together, we look down at our daughter. Our family.
For several minutes, neither of us says anything. Finally, Olivia rests her head on my shoulder. I lean down, kissing her forehead, and then look back at Cora sleeping peacefully in my arms.
A soft knock at the door cuts through the quiet. A nurse pops her head in with a warm smile.
“Are you ready, mom and dad? Mrs. Thorne, we’re all set to move you and the baby up to your private room upstairs.”
They wheel Olivia’s bed down the quiet hallways, and I walk right alongside them, carrying our daughter and keeping her held close against my chest.
The new room is massive, private, and filled with the soft glow of the city skyline through the window.
A light knock raps against the door before it inches open. Maya slips inside, her eyes already glassy. “I know, I know, visiting hours are basically over, but there was no way I was waiting until morning.”
She crosses the room in a few quick steps, pressing a kiss to the top of Olivia’s head. When she looks down at the small bundle in Olivia’s arms, her hand flies to her mouth.
“Oh, Liv.” Her voice cracks. “She’s beautiful.”
“Do you want to hold her?” Olivia asks, already shifting to pass Cora over.
Maya just holds out her arms, careful and reverent, like she’s handling something fragile. The second Cora settles against her chest, Maya breaks, tears sliding fast down her face.
“Hi, baby girl,” she whispers, rocking her gently. She looks up at Olivia, a silent, heavy look passing between them. “Look at you. Look at what you made.”
“We made it,” Olivia says quietly.
Maya glances at me over the top of Cora’s head. She sniffs hard as she carefully hands the baby back to Olivia.
“I’m only saying this once, so don’t let it go to your head, Thorne.” She looks straight at me. “Thank you for keeping her safe. All the way through. I mean it.”
I nod, my throat too tight to manage much more.
“I’m heading out so you guys can get some actual rest,” Maya whispers, stepping backward toward the door.
“But I’m coming straight to the penthouse the second you get home,” Maya says. With one last wave, she slips out the door.
I settle into the armchair beside Olivia’s new bed, transferring Cora back to her mother’s arms before sitting right at Olivia’s side.
A guy who spent high school bullying and tormenting Olivia has no business getting a future with her, let alone a happy ending.
But I’m standing right here, and my entire past rewrites itself inside this room.
None of the corporate power, the millions in the bank, or the worldly success means a damn thing compared to this.
It all disappears next to my wife and my daughter.
This is my family. They are the only things that matter.
This is peace. Real peace. The kind I spent a lifetime searching for in dark corners and never found, until Olivia. Until us.
Cora’s tiny fingers tighten slightly around mine in her sleep. A genuine, easy smile spreads across my face.
Outside the walls of this hospital room, life keeps moving at a brutal pace. But inside this room, time stands still. For the first time in a very long time, I don’t feel like I’m running toward something or escaping a ghost. I already have everything I will ever need.
I lower my head, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Cora’s velvet hair. Then I look at Olivia. She’s the woman who changed the trajectory of my life. The woman who handed me a future. The woman I will love with every single breath left in my body.
“I love you.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “I love you too.”
With our daughter sleeping safely between us, surrounded by more love than I ever thought a man like me was allowed to possess, I finally understand.
No more ghosts of the past. No more lies. The mask falls, and the future is right ahead of us.
THE END