Page 52 of Meeting the Billionaire Boss

He squeezes my hand. ‘Unlike you. If things aren’t going the way that makes you happy, you walk away and I admire that.’

‘I can’t be fake, Edward. There was no way I could live with you and pretend not to care about you. Leaving you and Joe behind was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it was the only way I could live with myself.’

‘Do you hate me now?’ he asks.

‘How could I hate you? I love you but I can’t be what you want me to be. I’m sorry.’

‘I’m not asking you to be anything other than yourself. Please come back to me. To us.’

‘I can’t sign a contract agreeing to a marriage of convenience, Edward.’

‘I don’t want you to sign anything, Ava.’ His eyes are filled with myriad emotions, and I can hear the plea in his voice. ‘I’m not even asking you to marry me… not unless you want to. But please, come home with me.’

Come home with me…

Words I have longed to hear for weeks. The man I love is sitting here, holding my hand and asking me to be with him.

No contract. No fake marriage. To be with him for love.

I get up and wrap my arms around him and he buries his face in me and squeezes me tight.

‘I love you, Edward. Of course I’ll come home with you.’

Chapter54

EPILOGUE

Standing on the terrace, gazing out at the land, I am overwhelmed by how beautiful March is at Herridge Hall. Daffodils and tulips grow in pots and borders, bright yellows, reds, pinks and purples. The fruit trees in the orchard are heavy with blossom and the air is mild with the promise of warmer months ahead.

I laugh as Joe runs across the grass with his new friend, four-year-old rescue greyhound, Kismet. The beautiful black dog came from the local greyhound rescue sanctuary having been surrendered there by the owner after she was no longer fast enough on the race track. Kismet has been living with us for three weeks now and she and Joe are already best friends. She sleeps in his room, follows me around during the day when he is at school, then wags her long tail in wide arcs when he returns in the afternoons. She’s a beautiful, gentle creature and I love seeing her with Joe.

The rescue sanctuary was also looking for someone to run their buddy system, an initiative that involves recruiting members of the public to spend time with their dogs — walking and grooming them as well as taking them to stay in their homes for short periods of time. It’s a voluntary role and I’ve applied to do it because I have so much and I want to give something back. Who knows, we might even decide to foster dogs ourselves. We certainly have plenty of room.

After Edward came to speak to me, I agreed to move back in with him and Joe. We spoke to Mum together and asked how she’d feel about living at the house and she smiled but I could see the reluctance in her eyes. So instead, Edward has given her one of the properties on the estate. It’s a cosy two-bedroom cottage that belonged to one of the former grooms. It had been empty for a while so Edward had it renovated and now it’s a lovely home. And though they’ve tried to keep it quiet, Mum and Jeff have been out for dinner a few times. I’ve seen them together, the way he makes her laugh and blush and she’s still a young woman so who knows what could happen between them. Life is for living, right?

Daniel has settled in well at his new school. Edward wanted to send him to the same school as Joe, but Mum said she’d prefer him to attend the village primary school so he can make some friends there. She got an electric bike so she can take him every morning and collect him at the end of each day and the fresh air and activity is doing her good. The movement has helped with the swelling caused by the lymphoedema and while she still has some bad days with the fibromyalgia, Edward has got her in with a specialist who is investigating what can be done to help with the pain. It can’t be cured but there are some experimental treatments and medications that can ease the symptoms. It’s money that has helped with this and while I wish it wasn’t this way, I’m glad to see her able to enjoy life more.

As for my father, somehow, he heard about the fact that we’d moved from Brixton and he sent me an email via Cavendish Construction. He was clearly more interested in me now due to my engagement to a billionaire CEO. I still don’t know how to feel about him because anger and disappointment are my default emotions where he’s concerned. Ever forgiving, Mum said to meet him and hear him out but I’m wary. The last thing I want is for him to come back into our lives and hurt us all again. And so I’m not rushing into anything. I do want to let my negative feelings towards him go so I can truly move on but it will be on my terms and with Mum and Daniel’s welfare in mind. If my father wants to have contact with us then it’s time for him to put in the work. He has a lot to prove and a lot of making up to do.

Since my return, Edward and I have talked lots. Initially, I was against marrying him but sleeping in his arms every night made me realise that I want to be his wife and so, when he got down on one knee again and asked me to be his wife for real, I said yes. He hasn’t asked me to sign anything, but for his lawyer’s peace of mind, I asked for a prenup that will protect him, and importantly Joe, should I ever run off with someone else.

That is NEVER going to happen, by the way! I love this man with my heart, mind, body and soul and I’m never letting him go.

‘What’re you daydreaming about?’ Edward wraps his arms around me from behind and nuzzles my neck making tingles run up and down my spine.

‘Our wedding. Should we have it here?’

‘I don’t see why not.’

He didn’t marry Lucille here. They got married on a beach in St Lucia and Edward paid for all their friends and family to be present. Lucille pocketed the money from the magazine that made the highest bid for exclusivity of the wedding coverage. We won’t have media present at our wedding, just a local photographer who’ll capture our special day for us to look back on in years to come.

‘What time is the wedding planner due to get here?’ I ask.

Edward looks at his watch and I see the cufflink on his left sleeve. He wears the ones I bought him for Christmas every day, Prince Charming and his Cinderella, just like us. ‘She should be here soon.’

We decided to hire a wedding planner because we don’t have much time if we’re to marry before Edward turns thirty-five in May. That way he’ll still meet the inheritance clause and get his grandpa’s shares in Cavendish Construction as well as be voted in as CEO.

‘What’s her name again?’ I turn in his arms and gaze at his handsome face.

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