Page 115 of Break Me Not

“Congrats!” he said, handing me a bouquet of pink flowers.

“Stefan! I'm surprised you showed up!” I replied, trying to not show how obviously uncomfortable I was.

He gave me a smile and then nodded at Jax but didn't really pay her any mind.

“Yeah, well, I'm here for two reasons. One, to obviously congratulate you, and two,” He handed me a set of keys and a document. “The gallery is officially yours! I decided to move on to other adventures, and, well, you're the only person I could think of to take it.”

I'm the only person who deserves it.

But I didn't say that. Instead, I acted as surprised as I truly felt.

“Oh my God, Stefan!” For an extra touch, I wrapped my arms around him. He patted my back and gave me a large smile when he pulled away.

“You’re welcome! It's the least I could do. You're the best employee I've ever had.”

“Thank you. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me.” I motioned for Jax to come forward. “This is my partner, Jax.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said and extended her hand.

“Jax… I know that name.” He hesitantly reached out to shake her hand. “Oh, you’re the one who bou⁠—”

“Well, make sure to enjoy the party!” she said quickly and pushed him off to where the drinks were.

But suspicion had already sunk in, so when she returned to my side, I gave her a look.

“Don't tell me…” I raised the key.

She gave me a sheepish smile. “I wanted to keep at least one secret. Just one! Do you always have to guess everything?”

I laughed and brought her into a hug.

“Normally, I would be mad if you did something like this.”

“I know you could've done it yourself,” she answered, holding me tight. “But you just spent so much money on the apartment, and it wasn't that expensive to buy the place after what happened, so⁠—”

I stood up on my tiptoes and gave her a kiss on her lips.

“Thank you, baby girl. I love you.”

“I love you too. By the way, all the staff is rehired, and you may get one or two surprises in the back. Apparently, we saved some paintings.”

I don’t know how I got so lucky.

But before we could fully bask in the moment, Claire was behind us, gagging loudly and playfully. We laughed and turned to her. She already had two cups of wine ready.

“For the happy couple, I guess?”

We took them as she grabbed another and held it up.

“To the best, unconventional love.”

We clinked our glasses together and drank. I couldn't help but look at them with love and adoration.

This was everything I’d dreamed of. Home. My people. Love.

Whoever said happily ever afters only existed in fairytales was wrong. It had taken me a while, but it was worth it. This was mine. And it was forever.

Bonus Epilogue