Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
In the end, the detectives agreed and released her with no charges. Her next step from there was to charter the boat so it couldn’t be connected to us.
Our next step was to send Lily, Courtney, and Taylor on an impromptu vacation to New York. We wouldn’t have Lily anywhere near her unpredictable, homicidal birth mother.
Micah even bought a child-size mannequin that we covered with a blanket and carried into the house under the cover of night, just in case Soo Min was watching from somewhere. We needed her to believe we’d all come home.
With all of that done, we waited... and she came.
“There’s one thing I don’t get,” Alex mused. “Why did she stash my bloody clothes and the drive in my vent? What was the point?”
“I know exactly what the point was,” I told him. “Before he died, Agassi tipped Sue off to how suspicious I was of everyone—including you guys. She purposely stashed those things in my old hiding place because she wanted me to find it... and she wanted me to think one or all of you killed Omma. Even though she planned to kill us all and it didn’t even matter, she wanted us to spend our final days fractured and fighting. Because she hated watching us fall in love.”
“Wow,” Micah breathed. “That’s a whole new level of vindictive.”
“Yes, it is, but now, it’s over,” I said. Behind me, I heard Mrs. Finley start the engine. “The inhabitants of Kim Manor are all officially dead. When— If Sue’s body washes up on shore, cops will just assume the rest of you weren’t so lucky and washed out to sea.”
My men— My loves— My husbands held me as we sailed away.
“You know, I’m not going to miss being Fritz Calloway or Alexander Montgomery,” Alexander mused. “Both of those poor bastards had the worst luck.” He stroked my cheek. “They had to spend most of their life without you.”
I once again blushed like the silly mare I was. “Don’t worry, baby. Sarang has an almost-billion-dollar inheritance coming her way. She’ll buy you whatever name you want.”
Micah put up his hand. “Let the record reflect that I did not fall in love with you for your money, but all the same, I’m very much looking forward to you becoming my sugar momma.” He captured my lips in a searing kiss that rocked me on my feet. “As long as it comes with lots of sugar.”
“Oh, I can confirm for the record, it will.”
“We should change out of these wet clothes and check on Lily,” Rhodes reminded. “Although, I’m sure she’s having a great time with Auntie Courtney and Cousin Taylor on their impromptu trip to New York.”
I laughed. “One hundred percent, there will be a million cheesy, touristy photos waiting on my phone. We were all wrong, guys. It’s Courtney who’s going to beat us out as Lily’s favorite.”
Rhodes smiled into my eyes—making my heart flutter even then. “Good news is, we’ve got the rest of our lives to challenge her title.” His kiss was just as sweet, and just as hot. “Let’s go get our daughter.”
Alex compounded my heart palpitations with a kiss of his own, nipping my bottom lip as he drew back. “And start our new lives.”
“Together.”
Five Years Later
“HELLO, EVERYONE, AND thank you for joining us on this special tour.”
Our group of ten stepped off the shuttle. Whistles rippled over the group as we got the first look at the great, green expanse rolling out before us.
The tour guide stood ramrod straight in an expensive blue pantsuit with matching sapphire earrings. Her hair was pulled back in a sharp bun, and her makeup was lightly, but charmingly applied. She carried a clipboard, but did us the favor of keeping it at her side as she shook our hands and greeted us.
“Now, we are going to show you around and give you the opportunity to see with your own eyes all of the incredible things that we’ve achieved here in the mere year that we’ve been open...” She gestured at the fleet of golf carts, and the drivers waiting to man them. “But before we do, I’d like to give you the context of exactly what you’re going to see.
“We are standing on over one hundred acres of land,” she began, “and on this land we have the largest food bank in the state, the second largest clothes bank in the state, and five free clinics with doctors and surgeons on-site who can, and do, perform all emergency procedures and operations. We have single homes—full and proper homes complete with full kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms for all the unhoused members of our community who walk through our gates.
“No more bunk beds, gyms stuffed with dozens of people inside, or trudging through a cafeteria line,” she said. “We return privacy, dignity, personal space, and choice to those who’ve lost everything. And yes, that applies to adults who come here alone, and those who arrive with a family—all are allowed to reclaim their own space again.