Richard sits across from Everly and I, his usual dour expression replaced with an enormous smile.

“Congrats are in order,” he says, and suddenly a bottle of champagne materializes from underneath his desk.

Everly laughs. “Isn’t it early for that?”

“I don’t think so,” Richard says, looking innocent. “What do you think, Logan?”

“I think that special days should be celebrated. Pop that bad boy open.”

Richard laughs and does as instructed. He pours three glasses and we hold them up.

“To making your dreams come true,” Richard says.

“Here, here,” I say. We clink glasses and drink.

One month passed since we last saw Spencer Winterfield. I wired Spencer money via Richard’s office, and in return, he sent over a hard drive with everything on it. We can’t be completely sure that he deleted everything and didn’t save something locally, but there’s no way to double-check that. We just have to assume that he’s going to uphold his end of the bargain. I know that bothers Everly, but so far, so good. We haven’t seen or heard anything from him since.

And things with Chester have gone smoothly. True to his word, he signed the papers five days ago, and now it’s my turn. I finish my glass and grin at Richard.

“Let’s make this official,” I say.

Richard nods. He buzzes his secretary and asks her to come in with the papers. She brings everything and stands next to Richard.

“Sign here, here, and here, and initial each page.” She points at each spot. “I’m a certified notary public, so once you’re all done, I’ll make it official.”

I feel like I should really feel something. I should have some huge emotion in my body, propelling me forward, making me want to sign these documents. But truthfully, I don’t feel all that much. It’s like signing any other contract, and I’ve signed hundreds in my career.

Once I’m finished, Richard’s secretary signs, stamps, and carries the papers out of the room.

“That’s it?” Everly asks.

“That’s it,” Richard says, laughing. “Pretty simple after all’s said and done.”

“Wow,” she says, nudging me. “You did it. You own the land. We can start building.”

“We can start building,” I echo and shake my head. “Seems crazy, doesn’t it?”

“I knew you guys would do it,” Richard says. He hesitates for a second. “There’s actually one more thing.”

I cock my head as Richard takes a file from his drawer and hands it over. I take it and open it, scanning the document inside. I can’t help but smile as I hand it over to Everly.

“What’s this?” he asks, taking the folder. She looks at what’s inside and sighs. “So we’re talking about this already, huh?”

“We shouldn’t wait,” I say. “A deal’s a deal.” Inside the folder is a copy of our marriage certificate plus the original signed agreement that we made. “I owe you some money, I think.”

“Logan, come on,” she says. “You don’t owe me anything.”

Richard raises an eyebrow. “Actually, he owes you a million dollars, which I think is a lot of money. It’s right there in black and white.”

“The man’s got a point.” I have a grin on my face and I can’t seem to shake it. Everly looks so uncomfortable that it’s almost delicious.

“And since I’m a lawyer,” Richard goes on, “I can start the divorce proceedings right now. I have the paperwork drawn up per the stipulations in the agreement.” He takes out another stack of papers.

Everly looks like she might panic. “Uh, divorce?”

“Of course,” I say. “In the original agreement, we specified that we’d divorce as soon as the sale papers were signed.”

“Right, yeah,” she says nervously. “So I guess we should divorce.”

“And you’re getting a nice, fat promotion,” I say, grinning ear to ear.

“Right, a promotion,” she says softly, almost a whisper.

Richard looks between the two of us like we’re insane. “Why does Everly look like she just stepped in shit?” he asks me.

I burst out laughing and Everly turns red. “It’s nothing,” she snaps.

“It’s nothing, huh?” I ask her, cracking up. “Nothing at all?”

“Asshole,” she mumbles.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” Richard asks.

“Rich, I know I ask a lot of you. You’ve done so much for me, and I hate to ask for more. But can we have your office for five minutes?”

He signs, shaking his head. “If you didn’t pay me so fucking much, I would drop your ass,” he says.

“I’m sure you would.”

He stands, shaking his head and muttering under his breath as he leaves the room.

Everly look at me with a frown on her face. “So this is it?”

I nod, smiling softly. “Looks like it.”

“We’re getting a divorce.”

“Yep,” I say.

“And I won’t be Alexa’s… whatever anymore?”

“Nope,” I confirm.

“And that’s… what you want?”

I hesitate. “No,” I say softly. “That’s not what I want at all.”

The blood seems to rush back into her face. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I wanted to be alone for this.” I push my chair back and face her. “Everly, listen. I love you, but I think you knew that already.”

“I love you too,” she says softly.

“I don’t want a divorce. When I told Spencer that this was real, I meant it. I want you to be my wife.”

“Okay,” she says, eyes wide.

I get down on one knee and take out the ring I have stashed in my jacket pocket. “Be mine forever,” I say to her.

“Yes,” she whispers, eyes wide.

I slip the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly, and it better. I paid enough to make sure this was perfect.

She stares at the ring. “It’s beautiful.”

“Good. I’m glad you like it.”

I pull her toward me and we kiss, long and deep.

Richard comes back into his office while we’re still kissing. We’re forced to break apart as he clears his throat, standing in the doorway.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

“We can skip the divorce papers,” I say, sitting back in my chair.

“We’re getting married,” Everly says, holding up the ring. “Er, I mean, we’re staying married.”

Richard laughs, shaking his head. “Holy shit.”

“It’s a big day,” I say, grinning huge.

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.” Richards returns to his seat behind his desk and tops off everyone’s drink. “To your happy marriage,” he says.

We clink glasses and drink.

This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I have my wife, my daughter, my friend, and my future project. I’m going to do something good for the city, and it looks like nothing can stop me.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop smiling, as long as I’m with Everly.