Epilogue
Epilogue
Six months later – Maui, Hawaii
The waves kiss the shoreline with a gentle hush, the breeze teasing loose strands of my hair as I rock slowly in a hammock, our son sleeping against my chest.
He has Carter’s mouth. My nose. And a grip like he’s already trying to take on the world.
“Ivy!” a little voice squeals from behind me. “Daddy says it’s time for dinner but I told him you’re doing important baby things!”
I look up to see Laura, barefoot and sun-kissed, her curls bouncing as she runs across the patio in a sundress covered in pineapples.
“Very important baby things,” I say, smiling.
She giggles, then climbs into the hammock beside me without asking. She’s made herself at home in my life just as easily as she did in my heart.
Carter steps out a moment later, barefoot too, holding a tray of grilled fish, coconut rice, and some mocktail he insists on calling a “Sunset Spritz.”
He walks over, sets the tray down, and kisses me on the forehead like he always does now.
“You two plotting against me again?” he asks with mock suspicion.
“Absolutely,” I say.
“Definitely,” Laura adds.
He chuckles and sits beside us, his hand resting on my thigh. I glance at him, and for a second, I swear we’re back in that storm—trapped, scared, unsure.
But now, we’re here together. We sold Volcor Holdings three months ago. Carter made sure his entire team kept their jobs—and he’s never looked freer. I told him he didn’t have to sell his company, but he was ready for a change. He did keep enough shares, just in case. He’s consulting here and there, but mostly? He’s with us. Making breakfast. Building sandcastles. Loving hard.
And I’m still writing. My last piece about corporate displacement and housing justice went viral. This time, I published it under my real name—with Carter’s full blessing.
“You’re staring again,” he says, raising an eyebrow.
“Just wondering how I got so lucky,” I whisper.
His hand slides to the back of my neck, pulling me in for a kiss that’s slow, warm, and filled with everything we’ve been through. Laura makes a sound of exaggerated disgust, then laughs when I tickle her side.
“Alright, alright, lovebirds,” she says dramatically. “Can we eat now?”
“Absolutely,” Carter says, standing and taking the baby from my arms.
As he walks away with our son tucked against his chest and our daughter chasing his heels, I stay back for a moment. Just watching.
The man who once broke me is now the man who carries the weight of our little family like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
And maybe love didn’t start perfectly for us.
But it’s ours.
Storm-tested. War-worn. And real.
And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Because against every odd, every heartbreak, every reason not to… I still ended up falling for Mr. Billionaire.
THE END