Epilogue
TONI ROC
Trill-Land, ‘LoLux Estate
Abitch can’t lie… wakin’ up as Mrs. Mensah every mornin’ felt good as fuck.
I was laid up in the softest bed money could buy, wrapped up in silk sheets that smelled like me and Kay’Lo.
Every time I opened my eyes and saw this big ass ring sittin’ on my finger, it hit me all over again that I was his wife now.
Mrs. Toni Mensah. That name had power to it.
That name meant I was tied to a real one.
VYCE City had been a dream from start to finish.
We spent weeks out there just livin’ it up like we ain’t have a care in the world.
Every night was a movie. We stayed in a penthouse suite with a glass balcony that overlooked the whole city.
Kay’Lo would have champagne waitin’ for me, rose petals on the floor, and a playlist goin’ with nothin’ but slow jams and trap mixed together.
He knew how to make a bitch melt and turn her up all at once.
We’d make love ‘til the sun came up, and then we’d sleep half the day away before hittin’ the strip again just to wild out.
He rented out whole sections with bottles lined up like soldiers, and sparklers shootin’ off while the DJ was shoutin’ our names.
People knew who we was. “Mr. and Mrs. Mensah!” they’d yell out when we walked in.
I loved every second of it. I loved how he looked at me, how he’d keep his hand on my thigh, remindin’ every nigga in that club that I belonged to him.
It wasn’t no question. The whole vibe was luxury and love, mixed with that hood shit that made it real.
Even with all the fun and the flights, part of me did feel a lil’ sad sometimes.
We ain’t have his family or mine at the weddin’.
We ain’t have no big ceremony, no dress fittings, no flowers, or no crowd of people cryin’ while we said “I do.” It was just me and him, in that quiet room in VYCE City, lookin’ at each other while the man asked if we was ready to make it official.
I said yes before the man even finished talkin’.
I wanted ‘Lo, all of him, and I didn’t care who wasn’t there.
Kay’Lo told me he wanted it to be just us.
Too much had been goin’ on with his family.
It was too much tension, and too many eyes watchin’.
And honestly, I got it. I was tired too.
After everything we’d been through, it felt good to just escape and make our own moment, so that’s what we did.
We made memories that no one could take from us.
Now we was back home at ‘LoLux Estate, and when I say this house was a damn dream, I meant that from the soul. Six bedrooms, a gold and black theme that made it feel like royalty mixed with street royalty. Every wall had somethin’ that looked expensive, from the black marble floors to the custom gold fixtures.
The chandeliers in every room sparkled like they was made from diamonds.
Kay’Lo’s taste was different from Pressure’s, more dark and bold.
This was a house built for a king who had no doubt about who he was.
We had only been home for a day, but I already felt spoiled as hell.
When I opened my eyes that mornin’, the first thing I saw was the sunlight pourin’ through the sheer curtains and hittin’ the gold edges of the mirror across from me.
Then I saw my man. Kay’Lo walked in with a tray of breakfast, shirtless with tattoos glistenin’ against his brown skin.
He had on a pair of black sweatpants hangin’ low on his waist and that grin that made me forget about everything else.
“Mornin’, wife,” he said, smilin’ like he owned the world.
He set the tray down across my lap, and I damn near wanted to cry at how fine the plate looked.
There was fluffy scrambled eggs with cheese, crispy turkey bacon, golden waffles with strawberries and syrup drippin’ off the sides, and a small bowl of fruit.
Beside it, he had poured mimosas into two crystal glasses.
The man even put a lil’ rose in a glass of water on the tray.
“You really did all this for me?” I asked, smilin’ as I picked up a piece of bacon.
“For us,” he said, leanin’ down to kiss me slow. “You my wife now. You deserve the world, Toni Mensah.”
That right there made my heart flutter. I ain’t never had a man love me the way Kay’Lo did. Every day he showed me that he meant it.
While I ate, he sat beside me, sippin’ his mimosa and talkin’ about how he was ready to start buildin’ with me. He wanted to turn LoLux into a brand, and a place that screamed legacy. I could see how much pride he had when he talked about it. That’s what made me fall for him all over again.
After breakfast, I set my tray to the side and stretched out. I was about to get up when he stopped me.
“Hold up,” he said, his tone low. “I got somethin’ for you.”
I smiled, thinkin’ he was just about to hand me some jewelry or somethin’. “What you got now, Kay’Lo? You done already spoiled me enough.”
He grinned and shook his head. “Nah, baby. This one different. This ain’t about money. This about love and loyalty. This somethin’ I did for you.”
The way he said it had me curious. His eyes was calm, but there was somethin’ behind them that made me nervous and excited at the same time. He reached for my hand and helped me up from the bed.
“Come on,” he said.
I followed him down the long hallway. He led me to the back of the house where the lightin’ got darker and the air felt cooler.
It wasn’t a basement, but it sat low in the house, more private than anywhere else.
The room was big and luxurious, with black walls trimmed in gold and soft lightin’ that gave it a glow.
It almost looked like a place where business got handled.
In the middle of the room was a long glass table. On top of it sat a large black box.
Kay’Lo walked over and picked it up, then turned to me. “Go ‘head, open it.”
I blinked, smilin’ at him, tryna guess what it could be. The box was heavy, and when he placed it in my lap, I felt my pulse jump. “You makin’ me nervous,” I laughed, glancin’ up at him.
He didn’t laugh back. He just watched me.
When I lifted the lid, the room felt like it froze in place.
The box slipped from my hands before I even realized it, hittin’ the floor with a hard thud. A round, bloody head rolled out across the black marble. My whole body locked up, and a scream ripped out of me before I could stop it.
It took a second for my mind to process what I was lookin’ at, but once it did, my knees got weak. The man’s eyes was open, glassy and empty. His mouth was still slightly parted like he had been tryin’ to speak when he died. And even with the blood and the mess, I knew exactly who it was.
It was my uncle Darnell…
The same man who used to rape me when I was a lil’ girl. The same face I spent years tryin’ to forget.
My hand flew up to my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. I looked up at Kay’Lo, and he was just standin’ there, calm, his chest risin’ and fallin’ slow and his expression cold as hell.
“Kay’Lo,” I whispered, my voice barely there. “What did you do?”
He looked me dead in my eyes. “What I had to.”
My heart was beatin’ so fast it hurt. I stood up and backed up a lil, my hand still coverin’ my mouth. “You… you killed him?”
He tilted his head, his voice low and firm. “I told you when you became my wife, I was gon’ protect you. I meant that. Anybody that hurt you, I’m hurtin’ them worse. That’s my vow to you. You mine now, Toni. That mean I’ll kill for you. Every single time.”
He said it so calm, like he was talkin’ about the weather.
Tears filled my eyes, but I couldn’t even tell if they were from fear, shock, or somethin’ else.
I looked down again, starin’ at that head on the floor, and at the blood that had smeared across the marble.
I remembered bein’ that lil’ girl who used to cry at night ‘cause of what that man did to me. And now, that monster was gone.
My heart was racin’, but deep down, a part of me understood what this meant.
I looked back up at Kay’Lo. He stepped closer, wiped a tear from my cheek, then kissed my forehead like nothin’ had just happened.
“You safe now,” he murmured. “Ain’t nobody ever gon’ hurt you again.”
I couldn’t do shit. I just stood there, shakin’ with my hand still over my mouth. My uncle’s head was still lyin’ on the floor, his eyes wide open like he knew exactly what he deserved.
As much as I wanted to scream or run or do somethin’, I couldn’t move.
I just stood there, realizin’ that I had married a man whose love came with power, danger, and no limits.
In this moment, I knew I ain’t just marry into a name…
I married into a world. And whatever came with it, I was already in too deep to turn back… .
FOREVER CERTIFIED… TO BE CONTINUED.