“Nice to see that you two are still together. I had worried, Ivy, that it wouldn’t last. I mean, you worked so hard for him that it would be a shame for all of that to be in vain.” Turning to Brad, I continue. “And Brad. Nice to see you. As you can see,” I point at Kane over my shoulder, “I should be thanking you. After all, had I not been lucky enough to find you with my sister, I would be stuck married to you and I wouldn’t have Kane. After years of thinking you were the best I would have, I can’t even tell you how exhilarating it is to find out what I assumed was life’s ten was more like a two. So thank you for pushing me out the door and right into the arms of a ten.”

“Excuse me!” Dominic booms through the office.

Turning from Brad’s incredulous eyes, I look at the man whose love I had always thought I needed.

“Dominic,” I sweetly say in greeting. “You’ll have to excuse my frankness, but I think you’ll find I actually have no trouble speaking my mind these days. It really is a wonderful feeling.”

“You’ll keep in mind whom you’re speaking to, Willow,” he seethes.

I cock my head and look at him in confusion—well, fake confusion for his sake. “I’m sorry? And exactly who would that be, Dominic? Surely, you aren’t implying that I should watch my mouth because there is someone I should be respecting in here?”

“You have a lot of nerve,” he heatedly mumbles, moving to stand from his chair. “You have no right to be here!” he yells.

Kane’s hand tightens, and I give him a squeeze.

“Perhaps, but I’m here, and I’m not leaving until I get a few things off my chest, so do me a favor and sit down, shut up, and for once in your life, listen.”

He sputters but doesn’t move around the desk. He also doesn’t sit, but that’s okay. Looking at each of them for a few seconds, I measure my next words—my reason for coming and everything that I hope to get off my chest. Short and sweet but everything I need to say in order to let go of my past. I couldn’t care less if they agree; all that matters is how I feel at this moment.

“Dominic,” I begin. “I want you to know that I forgive you.” He sputters again, but this time it isn’t anger driven. He’s confused, clearly not expecting that. “I forgive you for being a terrible stepfather to me. I forgive you for treating me with nothing but hate and verbal abuse for years. I also forgive you for your inability to love because that is really just heartbreaking. I used to think I needed your love. For what reason, I’m not sure. I allowed you to beat me down because I felt the guilt of losing Mom, guilt I shouldn’t have had to burden. It was a terrible accident I had no control over, and even though I’ll miss her for the rest of my life, I know that the years I had with her were beautiful and even you can’t take that away from me. I know now that if she were here, she would be as disgusted with your actions as I am. But most of all, I forgive you for being blinded by evil and not helping me heal after she was gone.”

I ignore him and his beet-red face and turn to the duo of doom on the couch.

“Ivy.” I smile at my sister. No. It’s time I let go of the hope she would ever be a true sister. The half that had bonded us as together meaning more to me than her, so it’s time I remember she will always be my half-sister. “I want you to know I forgive you as well. For different reasons, of course. I forgive you for being so unhappy with yourself that you projected that on me and spent your whole life building a relationship of hate toward me instead of one of love. You could have had the best relationship with me, but you were blind to that. I forgive you for whatever you lack in your heart to actually have the ability to care for another person, especially your own half-sister. It’s okay because I see now that blood might bond us, but that connection is the only one we will share. And most of all, I thank you for being so driven by your hate toward me that you slept with Brad and saved me from the life I was drowning in. You didn’t know it, but that was the best gift I had been given in a long time.”

“You bitch,” she screams, climbing to her feet.

“Be quiet,” I snap, stopping her in her tracks before she can take more than two steps from the couch.

“Brad, I didn’t know you would be here,” I continue, fake enthusiasm dripping from my words. “I really didn’t plan to have anything more to say to you, but it works out in my favor to have you here during this. So all I have to say is thank you for leaving me when you knew I was too afraid to do it myself. I forgive you for your part in the ‘make Willow suffer’ game. I’m not afraid anymore, and I can tell you with absolute honesty that you are the reason for that. I hope you’re happy with my sister. I meant what I said. You two worked so hard for the common goal that it really would be a shame to waste all that malevolence.”

Everyone is silent when I finish, and I look around at their faces. Each one shocked and bright red.

“Well …” I sigh cheerfully. “That’s all I needed to say. If you’ll excuse us, my boyfriend and I have a flight to catch.”

I turn, but Ivy’s silence has apparently found its endpoint. “You’re with her? Why the fuck would you want her?”

I know her words are meant to lash me mentally, but she won’t get that. Their words no longer have the power to hurt me. I know my worth.

I look up at Kane and give his angry expression a wink before turning back around. I stare at my half-sister and tell her the only thing I can to make her understand that she no longer holds any power to hurt me. “Why the fuck wouldn’t he want me?” The curse word rolls off my tongue effortlessly, and it just makes my smile widen.

She doesn’t respond, but I turn and ignore them. I said what I needed to in order to move on with my life. I no longer have any part of my painful past tying me down. I got the closure I needed, and it doesn’t matter what they think.

The resistance in Kane’s hold draws me up short, and I realize he didn’t move from where he had been standing. He’s staring at my half-sister, and if her trembling is anything to judge by, he looks terrifying.

“To answer your asinine question, it’s because I fucking love her.”

When he turns, he gives me a wink of his own and starts walking out the door, this time leading me. I’m too busy riding the high that my life’s become to even notice what is being yelled at our retreating backs.

I don’t care what they have to say because right now, I know when I leave this office, they’re going to be dead to me. Not even the memory of them will haunt my mind.

I, Willow Tate, have won.

WILLOW DOESN’T STOP SMILING THE whole way out of the offices. She gives Mary a warm hug and promises to keep in touch. She turns toward me, and even though I know confronting her past wasn’t easy, she looks happier than I have ever seen her. I had misjudged just how much this last tie to her past weighed on her. I have no doubt that she finally feels as strong as I knew she had become. Giving them her forgiveness wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else, but to her it was the only way she could truly move on and be free from it.

The thought of letting her do this today had been filling me with unease all night and into the morning. I felt protective of her before we knew each other, so the thought of letting the woman I had come to love be in any pain I could prevent killed me. But when I stood by her side and watched her take charge of her future, I knew that moment was worth all the unsettling feelings I had.

Now, though, all of that is gone and the only thing I feel is pride. No, that’s not true. Witnessing all of that turned me on so much; I could have fucked her right there in the middle of Dominic’s office.