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Sevyn barked out a laugh, clapping Creed on the shoulder. “Damn, man. Y’all couldn’t even tell us first?”

“We wanted to,” Creed admitted. “We just…wanted to be in our own world for a little while.”

“I get that,” My daddy said, nodding. “And I’m happy for you two. But, as your father,” He cleared his throat, expression serious. “I think we need to discuss a post-nup.”

I froze. A what? Creed sighed, already knowing how I’d react. “Baby?—”

“No.” I shook my head firmly. “I don’t like the idea of prenups or post-nups. It feels like putting an expiration date on our marriage.”

“Serenity, that’s not?—”

“It is.” My voice was sharper than I intended.

Sienna, surprisingly, stayed quiet, just watching me. Lenox, on the other hand, was unwavering. “Baby girl, listen to me,” he said. “This isn’t about assuming your marriage won’t last. This is about protecting you. Both of you. Let’s be honest, you’re worth a lot of money. I need to protect that at all costs.”

“My son is worth quite a bit as well.” Tasha commented.

“This isn’t about who has more money.” Sienna finally stepped in. “It’s not a pissing contest Tasha, Jesus. But let’s be honest, Serenity is an heiress to a billion-dollar company. Not to mention the wealth she and her brother will gain from me when I’m gone. We get Creed is successful. We’re not trying totake that away from him, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking marriages last forever.”

Something in her voice at the end of that sentence gave me pause. I looked between my parents about to say something when Creed reached for my hand, squeezing gently. “I get it. Why you feel like this is putting an expiration date on us. But this is just a formality Beautiful. It doesn’t change how I feel about you nor does it change how you feel about me. It’s the smart thing to do for both of us.” I swallowed, my chest tightening. “I’ll always take care of you,” he promised. “Post-nup or not. You’re my wife. And that’s never changing.”

After a long moment, I sighed. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”

My daddy smiled, relieved. “I’ll have the lawyers send the paperwork over to Creed’s people.”

The private diningroom at Nobu was dimly lit, the soft glow from the candlelit centerpiece illuminating the four glasses of wine sitting in front of us. The low hum of conversations and clinking glasses filled the space, but all I could hear was the excitement buzzing between me, Averi, Egypt, and Arielle.

I took a sip of my drink, feeling all eyes on me, and I already knew where this was going.

“So…” Averi drawled, leaning forward with a mischievous smirk. “Mrs. Langston.”

I sighed dramatically, rolling my eyes as I set my glass down. “Y’all, stop.”

Egypt laughed, clapping her hands together. “Oh no, ma’am. We are never stopping. Ever. You married your forever. You have no choice but to be bullied about it.”

Ari nodded, grinning. “I mean, the way the blogs ate this up? We tried to tell you, your love story was everybody’s favorite saga. This was the finale we needed.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t fight the smile pulling at my lips. “I don’t know about a finale. More like the start of a whole new chapter.”

“Either way,” Averi said, “this was inevitable. We all knew it. Even when y’all were acting stupid, even when you were swearing up and down that you were done with him, we knew.”

I looked at my best friends—the women who had been by my side through everything—and I knew they were right. They had seen me heartbroken over Creed. They had seen me find my footing as a single mother, as an actress, as a woman trying to make sense of her life outside of him. They had witnessed my denial, my efforts to fight what everyone—including myself—knew was true. That Creed Langston had me in a chokehold and always would.

I exhaled, finally giving in to the wave of emotions that had been creeping up on me since the moment we walked into this restaurant.

“I’m happy,” I admitted, holding my left hand out and seeing his initials on my ring finger. “I think… I’ve never been this happy. Not since before everything fell apart with us.”

Egypt smirked. “And you feel stupid for fighting it so long, don’t you?”

I shot her a look before flipping her the bird, and she just grinned, sipping her wine.

Arielle shook her head, laughing. “Egypt is annoying, but she’s not wrong. You and Creed were always going to find your way back to each other.”

“I guess.” I sighed. “But I just… I didn’t want to feel like I was falling back into something because it was familiar. I didn’t want to feel like we were repeating a cycle.”

Averi nodded in understanding. “And do you feel that way now?”

I thought about that. Really thought about it. It was different now. We had both grown. Changed. Creed was no longer that 20-year-old kid trying to juggle love, fatherhood, and a rising career. I was no longer that 18-year-old girl struggling to figure out who she was outside of him. We weren’t falling back into old habits—we were making new ones.