Epilogue - Jenna
“You’ve just had the last one—I’m not giving you anymore,” I heard Violet telling my son from the sitting room.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been feeding my son junk all this while!” I said, called, and rushed out of the kitchen where I’d been supervising the cooking.
“I just gave him a little—not enough to upset his stomach, I promise.” She batted her eyelashes. “Right, Daniil?” she added, rubbing my son’s head.
I scoffed; I couldn’t believe that my best friend was conspiring with my six-month-old son against me.
On the other hand, it brought a smile to my face. Raising Daniil had been a lot easier for me because Violet would occasionally step in to give me a hand.
I’d tried to be a disciplinarian, not spoiling my son by letting him have all he wanted; Violet, on the other hand, not only spoiled him but would let him have any and everything he wanted—including things she’d suggest and assume on her own that he wanted since he was unable to speak for himself.
Just like how she was sneakily giving him candy behind my back.
A smile spread on my lips as my eyes dropped to my son, sitting in his baby chair with Violet sitting in front of him.
His hair, nose shape, lips—everything about him screamed of his dad. He only took the color of my eyes, which sometimes upset me because I wanted him to look like me, too.
“Jenna,” my mom called from the kitchen. I almost rolled my eyes but quickly stopped myself. I ran to the kitchen to meet her, holding two containers and trying to decipher which of them contained salt.
“Mom,” I called. I hurriedly walked toward her and snatched the corn flour from her before she ended up creating a disaster and ruining the food we were making for the guests.
“Mom, I’ve shown you the difference between the salt and the corn flour several times.” I frowned.
“Well, it isn’t my fault—I’ve warned you about using similar containers.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We must hurry up with the cooking—the guests will arrive soon.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back on the kitchen counter. “I’ve told you several times to rest, Mom. You shouldn’t be here in the kitchen stressing about things the housekeepers can easily handle!” I complained for the umpteenth time that day.
My mom was stubborn, and I couldn’t help but wonder why I hadn’t inherited more of her stubbornness. It’d been a few weeks since she was officially discharged from the hospital after the doctor declared she had wholly recovered from her illness.
It had sounded like the sweetest song to my ears when those words, which I thought I would never hear, left the doctor’s lips and filtered straight into my ears.
After she was discharged, Feliks suggested that she come to live with us to recover fully. However, from the moment she’d arrived, she’d insisted on helping around the house, even though there were housekeepers who could do it—even though I’d told her to rest and ask for anything she needed.
Tonight, I’d planned a small dinner for friends and family. The cooking was currently going on in the kitchen; I was trying to supervise, but my mother kept getting involved and trying to take over.
I sighed in relief when I finally succeeded in dragging her out of the kitchen after much persuasion.
As we walked back to the sitting room together, my attention was drawn to my son’s direction by his loud laughter. Violet was waving a toy in front of him, and I still couldn’t understand why that made him laugh so much, especially since I’d tried that on several occasions but never got the same result. Was she doing it differently from me?
He wasn’t even interested in the kid’s show on the TV, or he’d gotten tired of watching it and preferred playing with Violet instead.
As my attention was drawn to the TV, my mom picked up the remote control and switched it to a news channel.
“Call me old fashioned, but I prefer listening to the news in my leisure time.” My mom cast me a glance.
I smiled broadly and was about to return to the kitchen, but stopped when I heard my father’s name being mentioned on the news. His company had suffered a significant blow, and he was on the verge of going bankrupt.
The newscaster said, “How did one of the biggest and best-performing companies in the city end up being reduced to this?”
I swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. I looked over to my mom, who was watching the news, but she had no reaction and cleared my throat.
I felt a little uneasy, knowing that my husband was behind my father’s situation, even though I knew he deserved it. Feliks had told me that he was going to make all those who’d hurt me suffer. Only a few months ago, he’d given me that assurance, and I was beginning to see it.
Laura filed for a divorce the moment she learned that the company was going under and that nothing could be done to save it.
Veronica, on the other hand, was likely going through a hard time, too. A scandal capable of ruining her image forever had come out recently; I was sure she must be having a hard time dealing with it. Now, not only was her father about to go bankrupt, but her family was also breaking apart.
Whenever I would want to feel a little pity for her, though, I would remember everything she’d put me through and how she’d almost gotten me killed.
I swallowed hard as I walked to the kitchen, not because I needed anything from there but because I needed to be away from my mother while I got emotional about seeing my enemies get punished for my sake.
As for Leo, it had been effortless for Feliks to get rid of him. I knew that, in this case, it was more than punishing him for my sake; Feliks wanted to get him out of the picture because he couldn’t stand the thought of another man openly wanting his wife.
He wanted Leo to be castrated, but I thought that’d be too much. “Can’t you find a simpler punishment for him?” I’d asked Feliks while lying on his chest and running my fingers over his tattoos.
“Of course, there is something simpler; it’s just that I would prefer it if he no longer existed.”
I’d felt chills run down my spine at his words, but I had gradually accepted the kind of man I married—a ruthless man whose heart only beat for me.
Days later, I’d heard that Leo had been nabbed for drug trafficking and thrown behind bars. I’d immediately known that it was Feliks’ doing because, even though I knew Leo wasn’t the nicest of people, he’d never stoop to selling drugs.
I let out a deep sigh and rested on the kitchen counter.
When the news had broken out, and I’d realized that Leo was going to spend a very long time of his life behind bars for a crime he most likely didn’t commit, it had been challenging to get rid of the pang of guilt that sprang up in me whenever I thought of it.
Then again, I was glad that Leo would not bother me anymore now that he’d been taken care of.
I let out a deep sigh and leaned away from the kitchen counter when Emma walked into the kitchen and found me standing there, arms folded across my chest, staring into space.
“Are you okay?” She asked, and I nodded.
“You look stressed. You should go to the sitting room and rest while I finish.”
I didn’t argue; I dragged my feet out of the kitchen and let out another sigh. It was of acceptance of the man I had married. This was my life now, and I was glad I’d gotten married to a man who had my best interest at heart.
I entered the sitting room when Feliks arrived with some of his business associates and a few friends. A smile spread on my lips as he walked over to where Daniil had spent so much time with Violet and picked him up.
The way Daniil bounced around in his father’s arms made me smile. This was my life now, and I loved it. I’d never thought I deserved this happiness or would ever get it, but here I was.
Feliks’ eyes searched the sitting room as he played with our son, and I knew exactly what he was looking for. Soon, his eyes landed on me, and my smile broadened as he winked at me.
His eyes did not leave me all evening, even while I was running around putting things together for dinner; I felt them boring holes in every corner of the room I went.
Well, why wouldn’t he look? I’d carefully and intentionally picked out the dress I wore today because I knew he would like it.
With the help of the housekeepers, I had finished setting the table and had gone to the kitchen to prepare some food. I was hurriedly putting the meal together when I heard soft, gentle steps approaching. Before I could try to guess who they belonged to, I felt somebody behind me, and a body pressed hard against my back.
I no longer needed to try and guess who it was; the cologne that filled my nose and the intense aura I should have sensed from miles away already told me who it was.
With his strong arms wrapped around my waist, Feliks carefully spun me around so I could face him and look directly into his eyes.
“I missed you. I missed kissing you,” he whispered softly, which melted my heart.
“We kissed this morning before you left for work.” I slapped his arm jokingly.
“That was hours ago!” he teased, and we laughed.
With his hand under my jaw and his piercing, deep gaze on mine, he pulled me closer and kissed me right there in the kitchen.
He pulled away after a while and looked into my eyes. I could see the longing in his gaze, feel it in the way he kissed me, the way he looked at me, and the way he held me. He was still just as obsessed with me as he’d always been, and from the look of things, the obsession wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“I love you,” he murmured. “You look gorgeous tonight, just as always, and I want to hold you in my arms and treat you like a very fragile and expensive piece of jewelry that should not be tampered with.”
“I love you too,” I said, running my fingers over his chest.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my tiptoes, and pulled him in. We shared another deep kiss.
*****
THE END