Epilogue
Charlotte
The first warm breeze of the season tickled my skin as I pushed through the glass doors of Chambers Technology. Tulips framed the walkway in bold pinks and yellows, bright enough to make the building appear as though it had dressed up for spring.
I rode the elevator to my floor, and the doors opened to the familiar rhythm of people settling in for the day. Gone were the days I needed to be the first one in, and the last one to leave. In the kitchen, George was stocking snacks, humming under his breath.
“Good morning, George. How are you today?”
He turned with a big grin. He was noticeably trimmer than seven months ago, cheeks a touch rosier, with an extra pep in his step around the office. He’d moved to part-time recently, easing into retirement on his own terms.
“Good morning, Charlotte. I’m great, thank you. My wife put me on a heart-healthy diet, and I started weight training last week, if you can believe it.”
My smile was instant. After everything he’d been through, seeing him here healthy, strong, and teasing about dumbbells gave me joy and reminded me just how precious these everyday moments were. “I can believe it. You’re looking good.”
We chatted a few more minutes before I headed down the hall to my office, the satisfying sounds of morning emails and calendar notifications chiming around me. It struck me, not for the first time, how different life felt at Chambers Technology.
Here, the company still carried the DNA of the family business it had once been.
Gerard didn’t hide in his ivory tower as the owner and CEO.
He walked the floors. He knew names. He was invested.
Staff didn’t brace when they saw him coming.
Instead, they invited him into conversations with enthusiasm.
For the first time in my career, I worked somewhere that aligned with my own principles. I didn’t have to be the person fighting to make sure employees felt heard or respected. Instead it was already baked into the culture.
Being part of this team didn’t feel like having to prove myself. It felt like belonging.
For the next couple of hours, I tried to focus. Truly. But every few minutes my eyes drifted to the corner of my screen where the time glowed back at me.
Not because I had a flight to London to catch this evening. But because Gabriel was on his way there, too.
He’d been in New York for a full week, and I felt his absence in that quiet, anchoring way you miss someone who has threaded themselves into the fabric of your life.
Our morning coffee stand-ups, our weekends spent drifting between his place and mine, the natural rhythm of being partners both at work and beyond.
I’d never expected to fall in love again, certainly not with the kind of depth I felt for Gabriel.
He saw me, supported me, challenged me, and steadied me in ways I’d never known were possible. Not to mention he was a kick ass CFO to work alongside.
“Knock, knock,” Olivia chirped, breezing into my office for our morning meeting.
She looked like spring incarnate in a yellow shift dress dotted with tiny white daisies, her hair pinned back with an equally cheerful gold clip. Her grin was as bright as the dress.
Over the last six months, thirty-two people had crossed over from Arrow to Chambers Technology, including Olivia, Rhys, most of my management team, and of course, George.
“Come in,” I called out, returning her smile.
She dropped into the chair across from me, barely able to contain herself. “So…is it official?”
“Yes.” I let the word hang there for one perfect beat. “As of this morning, Chambers Tech has officially acquired Arrow Communications.”
Olivia let out a delighted squeal, hands flying to her face as she practically bounced in her seat. “It’s so exciting. Like the ultimate lesson in karma.”
It certainly was.
After The New York Times article exposed Julian for the predator he was, more than a dozen women had come forward with similar stories.
And true to his character, he hadn’t gone down quietly.
In a full, scorched-earth move, he’d dragged the McMillion brothers into the flames, too, outing their tidy little tax-fraud scheme, along with their alleged habit of bribing government officials to grease FCC approvals.
The fallout had been immediate and spectacular.
Arrow Communications, once untouchable, had collapsed almost overnight as clients and employees fled in every direction. The downfall left the company wide open for acquisition, and Gerard Chambers hadn’t hesitated to step in and take control.
I’d been invited to fly out for the official signing in New York, but honestly? I’d closed that chapter, and preferred to focus on what was next. This chapter was mine to lead, and working through this acquisition and the client transition was where I wanted to spend my time.
“Your car is all set to pick you up here at three o’clock, the flight is on time, and your room is set for an early check-in.”
Another knock came at my door.
“Come in,” I called out, expecting someone with questions, updates, or paperwork.
Turned out it was Rhys. He opened his mouth for a moment but then promptly lost his train of thought.
His gaze flicked between Olivia and me before a flush crept slowly up his neck. I’d seen Olivia blush around him a number of times and knew she had a crush on him, but seeing it echoed on his face? That was new…and definitely interesting.
The tucked-away bar off the cobbled street in London looked exactly the way I remembered it from seven months ago.
Warm lights pooled across polished wood, glasses clinked in soft conversation, and the smell of leather and old-world charm permeated the air.
The last time I’d entered this place, everything in my life had been shifting beneath my feet: my career, my confidence, my sense of direction.
Now? Now I walked in certain and ready to meet with the newly acquired technology office tomorrow morning. Considering they’d been Juniper, Arrow, and now Chambers all within the same year, we had our work cut out for us.
I slipped onto the same barstool I’d claimed months ago and let the room settle around me.
And maybe smiled a little too stupidly, because I knew he was behind me before he even touched me. That warm, steady presence I’d come to recognize without looking.
But it was his voice that gave me shivers.
Gabriel
She was impossible to miss. Sitting at the far end of the bar, one heel dangling, hair falling in soft waves as she scanned the cocktail menu like she hadn’t already ordered a dirty martini. Absolutely stunning. My future. My everything.
I lingered near the column, half in shadow, letting myself take her in for one selfish beat longer. It had only been a week, yet I’d missed her terribly.
God, I was the luckiest man alive. And I couldn’t resist the game.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
She angled toward me, and just like that, my heartbeat was like a kick drum. “No, it’s not.”
I slid onto the stool beside her, signaling the bartender for a Scotch. “What brings you to London?”
She lifted her glass, the edge of her knee brushing mine. “Business trip. You?”
“A mix of business and something personal.”
One brow arched. “That sounds intriguing. Any complications that come with mixing the two?”
“Only one,” I replied, turning fully toward her.
That earned me her full, spellbound attention. “Pray tell. What’s the issue?”
“The issue,” I started, lowering my voice as if I had no business confessing it to a stranger, “is that I’m madly, deeply, hopelessly in love. And calling her my girlfriend doesn’t feel like the right label any longer.”
It wasn’t the plan to say any of this out loud, but once it slipped free, I couldn’t stop myself from nudging the line to see what she’d say. Because as much as I knew she loved me, I wondered if she’d be willing to take this next step.
She played with the olive skewer in her drink while I thanked the bartender for delivering mine. Once we were alone, she spoke again. “What label are you looking for?”
In this game the best answer would be vague. But patience wasn’t serving me in the moment.
“I was thinking something a little more permanent…like wife.”
She inhaled sharply, eyes going soft and startled all at once. My heart slammed against my ribs. This was definitely not how I’d planned any of this. I’d meant to propose somewhere meaningful. Thoughtful. Somewhere that wasn’t a bar where we were pretending not to know each other.
I dragged a hand through my hair. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but patience isn’t my strong suit. Maybe we pretend I didn’t say that and wait until I can do this properly.”
She was already shaking her head, slow and certain. “Did you not mean it?”
“Of course I meant it.” My laugh came out tight, like I was holding my breath in my teeth. “I just don’t want to freak you, I mean her out by blurting it like an idiot in a bar—”
She touched a finger to my lips, stopping the spiral in its tracks, and then lowered her hand with a smile that hit me square in the chest. “I promise she wouldn’t be freaked out. In fact, I’m pretty sure if you proposed, she’d say yes.”
My breath stuttered. “You think so? Even without the perfect proposal? You don’t suppose she’d want something more romantic?”
“Well…” She leaned in, voice dipping warm. “I don’t know her personally. But I’d imagine so long as it’s you, whether it’s tonight, tomorrow, or next week, the answer is yes. She’s a lucky woman.”
A slow smile curved across my mouth. “Believe me, I’m the lucky one. And I’m glad I met you tonight.”
I tossed back the rest of my drink, set a hundred-pound note on the bar, and rose from the stool. “May I walk you back to your hotel?”
“That’s very kind of you.”
Outside, I reached for her hand without hesitation. The moment her fingers threaded through mine, something settled in my chest. We walked in an easy, charged quiet, the cool London air brushing past us as the city moved around our little world of pretend.
Except it didn’t feel like pretend anymore.
With each step toward the hotel, the game thinned, reality filling the space between us. Adrenaline ran warm through my veins, anticipation coiling tightly as her shoulder brushed mine.
Neither of us broke the silence. Perhaps we both needed the walk to shift us from make-believe to reality.
The moment the door to our room clicked shut behind us, I backed her against the wall and kissed her like I’d been starving for it. “I fucking missed you, Charlotte.”
“I missed you, too,” she whispered against my mouth.
I forced myself to pull back, barely, because I couldn’t last another minute. After crossing the room, I dug into my computer bag, and my fingers closed around the box that had been on my mind all week.
I walked back and dropped to a knee in front of her.
“You are my person. My partner.” My voice was thick with everything I’d been holding on to. “Will you marry me?”
She gasped when I opened the box. Her sister had helped me pick out a beautiful antique diamond that was both feminine and classic. She locked her gaze on mine. “You’re my person, my partner, and my future, too. Yes, Gabriel. I’ll marry you.”
With shaky hands, I slipped the ring onto her left ring finger and then stood up so that I could kiss her again. “In my head I told myself to hold off on the proposal until the other side of this merger, but I couldn’t wait a moment longer.”
Her smile curved, slow and sure. “Seems mergers are part of our love story.”
I brushed my nose against hers. “Mm. We’re my favorite merger of all.”
She laughed, that warm, familiar sound that had anchored me from the beginning, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. Whatever came next, with new challenges and chapters, we’d face it side by side. Together.