Chapter Eighteen Cassian
(Two Months Later)
“Welcome home, baby.” I kiss the top of Zenovia’s head after I make sure she’s comfortable.
It’s been two months since Halloween. Two months since everything came crashing down on us. Two months since we lost people close to us.
I will never forget the scene we walked in on. Evy was lying at the bottom of the stairs with the scalpel lodged in her chest while Zenovia was lying next to her covered in bruises and blood. We soon found out it wasn’t all Zenovia’s blood.
Jaylen acted fast and got Zenovia to the hospital in time. She, however, was in a coma for two weeks due to brain swelling and had to stay in the hospital until today.
Evy, or Katrien, as we found out her name was, was one sick cookie.
She wasn’t even seventeen. She was twenty-two.
According to her records, she was abused and left pregnant by an older man.
The man emotionally abused her, and she was sent to a mental institution, but she broke out and has been hopping from town to town.
She murdered her previous boss because he wouldn’t leave his wife, and then she moved in with the family here.
They weren’t even related. She just manipulated them.
She got obsessed with me because I reminded her of the guy who got her pregnant.
She went back to that time and believed we loved each other.
She believed she was pregnant, but the coroner confirmed that she wasn’t pregnant at all.
What they do presume is that something snapped.
She couldn’t tell reality from her fantasy.
She wanted me to love her and our baby, the fantasy she had created in her own mind.
Jaylen was able to close the case and was pretty impressed with himself for trusting his instincts.
“I can’t believe I was in the hospital over Christmas.” Zenovia sighs as she melts onto the couch. She still needs to take things easy, but I have a surprise for her. Now that everything is sorted out, we can concentrate on the future.
Our future.
“All that matters is that you’re home and will never have to go back to the hospital…” I smirk as I lean closer to her. “Well, until we have some babies.”
“You… you want to have babies with me?” She asks as she leans even closer to me. She licks her lips, and I swear the tip of her tongue touches my lips.
“I want them only with you.” I close the gap as I pull her into a deep passionate kiss. Every fiber of my being is set alight as our tongues dance together. “I love you.” I peck her once more before we snuggle on the couch.
I can’t believe Evy, or Katrien, or whatever the fuck her name is, almost took my whole life from me. She almost took my heart.
We put on a movie as we just hold each other. There are no words needed to explain how we feel. We feel it in our touch. The way we feel around each other. She’s my home, my safe place, but most of all she’s mine to protect.
I pull back slightly and cup her face in my hand while I pull the ring out with my other one.
“I never want to be without you. I wanted to do this differently, but there’s nothing as perfect as right now.”
I hold out the ring. Her hand flies to her mouth as her eyes shine with unshed tears.
“Will you marry me? Make me the happiest man in the world?”
She nods her head as I open the gold band with a light blue, princess-cut diamond and a few smaller ones around it. “Yes! A million times, yes.” She throws her arms around my neck, and I pull her closer to me before kissing her deeply.
I never thought that I would find my forever when I moved to Fallon. I just wanted a new start, and now I get to spend the rest of my life with my beautiful sweetness.
We overcame some obstacles, but we made it through, and it made us stronger.
The End