Page 180 of The Blackmail
Not perfect or traditional, but real.
Penelope leans into me again. “We made it.”
I kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. “We did.”
The clock ticks softly toward three. Toward meetings and decisions that shape the rest of our lives. But nothing feels heavy anymore—not with all of them here, not with a future finally wide open instead of caged.
“Whatever happens today,” I say, looking at all of them, “we figure it out together.”
Minxy lifts her chin. “Duh.”
Silas smirks. “Family meeting after?”
Gideon nods once. “Family meeting after.”
Penelope looks up at me through her lashes, soft and certain. “Family.”
Yeah.
That word doesn’t hurt anymore.
It fits.
For the first time since Dad died, for the first time since Abi tried to tear every piece of us apart?—
We’re whole and heading into a future no one can take from us.
Our Happily Ever After isn’t a wedding or a fairy tale.
It’s survival.
It’s choosing each other.
It’s freedom.
And it’s just beginning.
