Ever After Awaits

    bChapter /bb81/bb: /bbLa /bbPOV /b

    As I stand outside Michael’s home office, preparing to go inside and have this awkward conversation of telling him thanks but no thanks, I notice the quiet calm that drifts from his open office door. That, and the faint smell of his cologne mixed with aged books.

    Through the open doorway, I see him sitting at his desk, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, the top two buttons of his cor undone, and his tie haphazardly thrown over the back of one of the guest chairs in front of his big mahogany desk.

    I knock once on the doorframe before taking two steps inside just past the threshold, and wait for his final invitation into his sanctuary.

    “La,” he says, voice warm but wary, “Come in. Moira told me you wanted to speak to

    me.”

    I walk slowly but purposefully and stop behind the guest chair with his navy blue tie over the back. I don’t sit down because my body is buzzing with equal parts nervousness and wariness at not knowing how he’ll react.

    He gestures toward the chair before me, saying, “Sit down, please. This isn’t a business meeting or an ambush.”

    “I know,” I say simply as I sp my hands together and then unsp them again, “But I’m not staying long.”

    His brows lift, and he ces his elbows on his desk, his fingers intecing on the surface before him.

    I reach into my back pocket and pull out the crinkled tuition cancetion letter that I was adamant I would have him sign today, so I could step away from Saxonsea and figure out my future on my own terms. I ce it on the edge of his desk with two fingers, slide it towards him somewhat, and then take a step back again.

    “I’m not here to say thank you,” I start, “and I’m not here to be ungrateful either.”

    He sits stillb, /bbreaths steadily, and waits me out.

    “I’m here to rify something. The original decision to pull some strings and get me into Saxonsea? It wasn’t yours to make.”

    “I didn’t mean to overstep…” he starts.

    “But you did,” I cut in, “You and my mother both.”

    I take a deep breath through my nose and slowly out my mouth to formte my thoughts and words.

    “That being said, I’m still going to ept the offer,” I continue. “Because I worked my ass off to get into Saxonsea from the start, and because it’s been my idream /isince I was fifteen. And not because you bought me a ce so I could step through their gates.”

    After initially wanting to give up on my studies because I didn’t want to feel like a charity case, strolling through the garden earlier brought a rity I didn’t think I’d find. Mainly because I found it in the ce that has been the backdrop to many of my emotional encounters over thest couple of weeks.

    But I didn’t ask or beg this of him; he handed it to me. And now it was up to me whether I was willing to either lose a great opportunity to what awaits me in the future or lift my head high and ept his offer, but on my terms.

    He slowly nods at me as I continue, “I also n to pay you back. Every cent. Even if it takes me ten years and I have to sell my organs on the dark webb./b”

    That earns me a brief but genuine smile – a definite first for us.

    “You don’t owe me anything,” he says gently.

    “That’s where you are wrong,” I reply, “I owe it to myself to do this on my terms.”

    His eyes study me for a long beat before he leans back in his office chair and raises one leg to rest his ankle on his opposite knee, before saying, “You know, the first time I met you, I thought to myself ‘That girl’s going to burn everything down that gets handed to her just to build it herself ording to her vision.“”

    “I’m not here to burn bridges, at least not anymore,” I say quietly and honestly. “I’m

    here to rebuild the parts of me that survived thest 15 months, g

    Something shifts behind his eyes as he looks at me. It’s not pride, or even

    jonka very much like respect

    t

    “Well,” he says after a few seconds, “When you do get around to paying me back, don‘ do it out of guilt. Do it out of stubbornness.”

    “That’s the n,” I say, then add with a small amount of sass, “Also, I trust the interest

    rate will be brutal.”

    “Only if you’rete,” he replies, a hint of yfulness to his voice to lighten the mood

    further.

    I nod and turn to leave, but suddenly pause in the doorway and rest bmy /bhand on its

    frame.

    “One more thingi,/ii” /iI add over my shoulder, “If my mother ever tries to speak for me again where my future and future rtionships are concerned, please make sure to let her know I’ll burn the whole damn town down before I ever let her do that.i” /i

    I don’t wait for his answer, but his low chuckle follows me as I leave.

    Michael and I might have started on rocky terrain during our early days. Hell, I even thought of him as a sleazy older man at one point in time. But it seems something has shifted between us, and I’m not sure what to expect in the future, but at least I don’t have to see him as an enemy–by–proxy anymore because he’s married to my momb. /b

    I don’t expect to find Moira standing in the hallway a few feet from Michael’s office. But she’s there, leaning against the wall, her arms folded loosely across her chest, and her eyes soft.

    She doesn’t ask what happened in there, and she doesn’t really need to because I’m sure she caught the gist of it through the open door.”

    As I near her, she reaches out gently and lightly touches my armb, /band I instinctively grasp her hand. “La,” she says gently.

    Chapter 411 La POV

    I lift my head, slowly, because I’m not quite sure what she’s about to say or if I’m ready

    to hear it.

    She’s quiet for a second longer as she searches my eyes, almost like she’s weighing her

    words.

    Then she says fondly, “If I had a daughter…I’d want her to turn out like you.”

    It’s not a dramatic or tearful statement. It’s just a steady and honest observation. Like a truth she’s been waiting for the right moment to hand over to me like a precious gift. And somehow it hits harder than any apology or speech ever could.

    My throat tightens instantly, and my chest aches in that quiet, painful way that feels like healing and hurting all rolled into one.

    I nod onceb, /bafraid to speak right now, because my heart feels slightly fuller after her

    words.

    With a slight squeeze to her hand, I step away and walk towards the front door to see what awaits me.

    /

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