Epilogue

Nine Months Later

Ava

I stood in the kitchen of our penthouse drinking a glass of wine and waiting for Mason to get home from work. Our relationship had been going strong, getting better as every day passed. I really didn’t know how I could love him any more than I did, and then he would do something wonderful, and magically, I was deeper in love with him than even moments before. He was everything I wanted in a partner, and he had been my entire life, even if I didn’t know it for a time. After he asked me to move in with him, he took me to the shoebox apartment in Brooklyn and packed up all my things. I was in the penthouse in two days, the fastest I had ever moved somewhere. We’d donated all of my furniture and kitchenware to charity since I had decorated the penthouse myself. Today was our nine-month anniversary, and we celebrated almost every month. We had been forced apart for so long that we didn’t want to take any chances, so we celebrated being together on every occasion we could. Tonight, we were going to go out to dinner, and Mason seemed more excited than normal. I figured he was happy to have some time with me since his company took most of it.

In less than a year, Mason’s company, York Technologies, had skyrocketed. He’d released his first prototype just six months after opening, and it was snatched up by every major cell phone company in the world. He had brought state-of-the-art technology to consumers and priced it to the sellers at a level that would make it affordable for everyone. His profits shot through the roof almost overnight, and he had been named one of Time Magazine’s people of the year. It was insane the career and success he had built for himself in such a short amount of time. He was hands-on at every step, knowing every employee’s name and making sure to be in on every project they covered. The press was all over him as usual, but now it was for positive reasons.

Sure, there were still random tabloid stories trying to drum up drama, but none of it was true, and with all the positive press, it was really easy to ignore. He had been called an “Innovator for The Times,” “The Next Genius in Technology,” and “One of the Best Companies to Work For,” by numerous media outlets. All I could do was sit back and watch him go, though he held my hand every step of the way. I was so excited for him, so proud of everything he had achieved. Our life had turned into what we had wanted it to be before we even had the chance to take a breath.

As soon as his first prototype exploded on the market, he was inundated with contracts from different companies. His business grew so fast, he could hardly keep up. He paid off the original building he started out with and opened a second one in Manhattan, which happened to face his father’s hotel. He gave that office to John and took the other side, not wanting to stare at his father every day during work. The old building was turned into admin offices, and the new building was secured with every piece of technological security you could imagine. The company was enormous, and business leaders all over the world were baffled by his growth and success.

Even through all of that, with everyone wanting his time, praising his work, and putting Mason in the light, he never floated off. His feet always stayed firmly planted on the ground, and he remembered that speech he gave the first day he opened the doors of his company. He had the speech framed, and it hung in our living room as a reminder of the trials and tribulations he had endured to get to where he was now. He never wanted to sit in the past, but he finally realized it was important to remember the lessons he had learned from it. He had created several different nonprofit organizations and donating heavily to others. He was the kind of man I hoped our future children would emulate.

His own father had stayed away, never once contacting him for anything. The only time he saw him was when he had gone with his mother to sign the divorce papers. His father had agreed to every single demand his mother made, and even his lawyer looked baffled that he didn’t fight back. He sold off a large portion of the company, and as Mason’s mother had promised, she gave it to my parents. They didn’t want to accept it at first, but it was theirs, and they knew it. The rest of Mr. York’s company began to fold almost instantly, being unstable from the rush he put on selling off the other parts. It was obvious he wanted to get out of that situation as fast as he could.

He’d immediately stopped his overseas dealings, assuming I had evidence on that as well, which I didn’t. That part was really a bluff. He closed down the resorts in the Cayman Islands and in Jamaica and folded his company to just one standing building, the hotel in New York City. He had taken over the penthouse suite during the divorce, leaving the house to Mason’s mother. Mason thought it was funny that the place where he’d lived when he was trying to make a name for himself ultimately became his father’s home. It was bittersweet for Mason, and I knew somewhere deep down, he still hoped his father would pull himself out.

Mr. York had taken the money from the sales of his other assets and put it into a new hotel line. They had luxury-based condos overlooking different cities. Three were being built and two were already in place, but he decided not to build in New York. From everything I read, his businesses were completely legit this time, and I hoped that meant he’d learned his lesson from the last time around. Of course, I would never be sure of that, and I was more than happy about that fact. He kept to himself while building his second empire, and the condos were already pulling in a considerable profit for him. I wouldn’t begrudge him that. He had started over like the rest of us, and the only thing I focused on at that point was Mason and our future together.

Right then, Mason walked in the door and smiled at me.

“You ready? We have dinner reservations in twenty minutes,” he said, taking my hand. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic was horrendous.”

“It’s all right,” I said, smiling. “I’m just happy to see you. Let’s go.”

I smiled as I walked out onto the street to the car parked out front. We now had our own fleet of cars to chauffeur us wherever we wanted to go. And to think I had given him a hard time about that before. We headed out to my favorite Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, the place he’d taken me on our first real date after settling everything with his father. The place was empty except for the staff, and I looked up at him in confusion.

“I rented out the whole restaurant,” he said.

“Wow. You’re going all-out for nine months.”

“It’s more than that,” he said, walking me over to the table covered in rose petals.

“What do you mean?” I stopped and turned to him.

“Ava,” he said, taking my hands, “you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You have given me something that no one else ever could have, a sense of my own self. I grew because of you. I changed because of you. Everything I have accomplished is because you were there pushing me every step, even when you didn’t know you were. There is a light inside you that everyone on the outside can see. It draws me to you like a magnet, and it has been that way since we were little kids. We spent so many days apart from each other, and I never want that to happen again.”

“Me either, “I said, gasping as he lowered himself down onto one knee.

“Ava, I don’t want to ever be without you.” He pulled out a little black box. “Will you please make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”

“Oh my god.” I put my hands up to my face. “Yes. Oh, Mason, yes. Of course I will.”

He opened up the box and pulled out a huge, sparkling diamond ring and slipped it onto my finger. The staff gathered around and clapped as he stood up and pulled me in close to him. He looked deeply into my eyes and brushed the hair off my cheek.

“I love you, Ava,” he said. “I always have, and I always will.”

A tear fell down my cheek as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. It was the happiest I had ever been in my entire life. Mason was the man of my dreams, and now I was going to marry him and one day start a family. It was everything I had ever wanted, even when it was hard for me to see it. He pulled back and smiled, guiding me over to the table and sitting down. He grabbed my hands and beamed at me as the staff poured glasses of champagne and brought out the appetizers.

“Are you happy?” he asked.

“I’m more than happy,” I replied. “And I sure am glad I answered the door in Los Angeles.”

“I’m sure glad you were lying on that mattress that day. I need to send your agent a gift.” He laughed. “We can officially thank your modeling career for bringing us together. If you hadn’t been modeling in that store that day, we would have never crossed paths, or at least not until you unleashed your legal fury on us.”

“I still got to do it, though, and it was worth every penny of my education.”

“We have one more thing to do,” he said, pulling out his cell phone and setting it on the table.

He pressed send and looked up at me and smiled, listening to it as it rang. I sat there sipping my champagne, not really sure what he was doing. Then I heard a familiar voice.

“Hey,” my mother said.

“Mom,” I said, surprised.

“Your father and Mason’s mom are here too,” she said.

“She said yes,” Mason shouted.

Everyone cheered, giving their congratulations, and, of course, there were tears from our mothers. I smiled and laughed, hearing the excitement in their voices. I never thought I would hear that from them, let alone that they would be there drinking celebratory champagne with Mason’s mother. It was a really good feeling knowing we had the support of the people we loved. It made the whole event that much more special.

When we got off the phone with them, we ate dinner and drank champagne, talking about our plans for the wedding. We both wanted to get married somewhere outdoors, somewhere exotic, and make sure all the people we loved the most were there to share in our happiness. I couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed by the love and excitement running through me. I never thought, not in a million years, that this would happen for me. I thought my destiny had been cemented in stone. I learned very quickly that love did really conquer all and that even someone like me could have the happily ever after that dreams were made of.

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END OF THE FIRST STORY