Epilogue

Orion stood alone on the balcony of the penthouse, the cool morning air brushing against his skin as his thoughts drifted to the past. He had sold the mansion—the one he and Ava once called home. The memories that filled those walls had become too painful to bear.

The haunting image of that particular morning played in his mind, unbidden and relentless. Ava in his arms, blood staining her dress as she struggled to breathe, coughing up blood.

“Don’t talk, Ava. Please… just stay with me. Somebody get the ambulance!” His frantic cries echoed in his ears as the paramedics wheeled her away, her weak hand reaching out, telling him with her eyes to let her go. Despite the terror in his chest, he listened to her wish and watched her leave, helpless to follow.

Uncle Theo had dragged him away, his voice hollow, urging him to pull himself together. “Ava, your wife, will want you here,” Theo had said. Those words, heavy with unspoken meaning, drove him to storm into the conference hall like a thunderstorm.

With Theo’s plan, they had outmaneuvered the Jamesons, exposing their lies. It turned out that Mason, whose legal name is David Hunt, testified against them, revealing the forged documents and the truth about the Jamesons’ enterprise.

Ava’s hard work, her sacrifices, had cleared her name. Theo had announced her ownership of 60% of Jameson’s Enterprise. But she wasn’t there to witness the moment of victory. The shame she longed to see on the Jamesons’ faces would remain a dream, a cruel twist of fate that had robbed her of the chance to savor her triumph.

Orion could still hear the distant echoes of his footsteps as he raced through the hospital, his heart pounding, his mind fixated on Ava. But it was too late. He had lost her.

His thought was broken by the feel of a hand around his waist, a familiar warmth that soothed his soul.

He turned to find his new wife, Ava Miller, standing beside him. They had married again, in the hospital, in a bittersweet ceremony that marked both their union and their shared grief. Ava had lost more than just blood that day—they had lost her. Their child. A child they never knew was growing inside her.

They had won, but the cost had been high. Mr. Rodriguez was facing life imprisonment for two murder charges coupled with other criminal misconducts. Chloe was in a psychiatric hospital, and Peter had been arrested as an accomplice. Mason—David Hunt, was out on bail after Holly disturbed Ava for the charges to be dropped, but no one had seen him since. It had all come to a head, and the remnants of their broken enemies scattered like dust in the wind.

Orion glanced at Ava, his heart heavy with a thousand emotions, but he tried to hide it behind his words. “You should be resting,” he murmured, his gaze soft but insistent.

“I’ve been resting for five months, Mr. Miller,” she replied with a playful pout. “I’m tired of being in bed all day. I feel like I’m getting too fat,” she teased, but the mood shifted when she caught his attention with a more serious question.

“When is my mother coming for dinner?” He asked suddenly, his voice tinged with both curiosity and a slight edge of impatience.

His mother had learned the truth. She learnt the real reason Richard married Ava and had apologized for everything she did, swearing to be a better mother-in-law to Ava.

She has been trying to make up for the lost years and Ava finally opened up her heart to Mrs Pricilla.

“5 PM,” Ava replied angrily and walked away. But before she got to the door, he pulled her back into his arms, his lips brushing against her hair.

“I’m tired, Orion,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m tired of trying to make you see me. It’s been five months, and you’ve barely touched me. If you don’t want me anymore, I can walk away.”

Her words, sharp and raw, stung him, and he looked at her with a pained expression. “You want to walk away from me?” he asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Yes!” she responded, her anger and hurt mixing. “I’m tired of living like this, wondering what I did wrong, why you keep...” She stopped mid-sentence, her breath hitching as Orion’s lips crashed into hers, silencing her with the passion he had kept hidden for so long.

“I love you, Ava,” he whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. “I’m just scared. Scared that I would lose you. Scared that your wound might reopen if I touch you. Scared that I hurt you by not being there when you needed me the most.”

Ava pulled away and gently cupped his face, her eyes softening as she kissed him once more, this time reassuring him. “I’m fine, Orion,” she murmured, lifting her nightgown and revealing the scar from her wound, now healed. “It’s all healed. The stitches are gone. And you won’t lose me. I promise.”

Orion’s worries melted away, replaced by a deep, aching desire. “But what if…” he began but Ava beat him to it.

“Shut up and kiss me, Orion Miller,” she teased, her voice low and sultry. It started slowly, as though Orion was treading carefully, but months of longing and need overtook him, and soon enough, Ava’s nightgown was torn. And as they lay together, the warmth of each other, the only clothing they had, their bodies reunited, melding together in a beautiful symphony of love and longing.

—-

“So, how come you never told me you had a share in my company?” Orion asked later, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her, a playful smile tugging at his lips.

“Well,” Ava smirked, “I was keeping it as a secret weapon to use against you one day.”

Orion raised an eyebrow, feigning indignation. “Let me get this straight,” he began. “The Miller’s empire is yours, the Miller’s Grand Hotel is yours, Oasis—formerly Jameson’s Enterprise—is yours, and now you own a share of my company. Am I the gold digger now?”

They both laughed, the sound of their joy filling the room.

“Yes, you are,” Ava teased, clutching her stomach from the laughter.

When the laughter subsided, Ava gazed at him with nothing but love in her eyes. “I love you, Orion Miller.”

“I love you, too, Ava Miller,” he responded, his voice thick with emotion.

A quiet tension lingered in the air before Ava's voice broke the stillness, her eyes glinting with playful mischief. "So… how about making another baby?"

Orion couldn't help but chuckle, his lips curving into a smile as he leaned down to kiss her. "Why not?" he whispered, his voice low and full of promise, as he moved to claim her once more.

Together, they embraced the uncertainty and beauty of the future, ready to write the next chapter of their journey—one they would face side by side.