Page 86 of Shattered Hope

I chuckled and hugged him. “Today would work for me,” I assured him.

Epilogue

Ailani

We got married two months later. My father walked me down the aisle, and it was perfect, in ways I didn’t think possible.

He had flown to Seattle to visit me a couple of days after I left the hospital. He had seen me in the news, and after years of looking for me, he had finally found me. He showed me all the letters he had sent me over the years that had never reached me because my mother made sure they were sent back to him. I knew she hated him, so I can’t say it surprised me to find out she had kept me away from my father.

Jayden insisted on giving me a traditional Hawaiian marriage, so he flew in the guests, and we had the most fantastic wedding at a spectacular beach, with the sunset coloring the skies.

All I had ever dreamed of and more.

Jonathan and George were there, and I was ecstatic when they showed us their wedding gift – my painting.

“I shouldn’t be giving you this, since you have the original, but I know you’ll buy it anyway, so we decided to save you the trouble,” Jonathan said to Jayden as he showed us the painting.

The resemblance was breathtaking, and the way he handled light and shadows was amazing.

“Are you sure?” Jayden asked him, astounded. “This is definitely your best painting so far.”

“I know, right?” he smiled. “Just lend it to me for my next show in New York,” he asked.

“Of course,” Jayden promised, with a wide smile.

The painting was now in our living room, and though I loved it, sometimes I had trouble believing I was the girl portraited.

I had changed a lot during the past few months, and not only physically. I was a new woman.

Tonight, four months later, we had the first fundraising for our new foundation called ‘Second Chances.’ Madeleine and I had worked very hard to see it come to life, and incredibly, we had found support from people all over the country.

“Ready for the show?” Jayden asked me as he walked into our bedroom.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, scowling.

“You look beautiful,” he assured me as he caressed my huge, round belly.

“I look and feel heavy,” I replied, smiling.

“You don’t have to do this, you know… mom can take care of everything,” he said, kissing my forehead.

“I know… but I want to be there. I can’t wait to meet Ronan and Gabriella Greystone. They have traveled a long way to be here tonight,” I reminded him, mentioning a couple I met when we started the foundation.

Gabriella went through a lot before she met her husband. She had asked to become a part of the foundation as soon as she heard about it.

We had talked a lot on the phone and video conferences, but we were only meeting tonight, and I couldn’t wait. Something told me we had a lot in common, and not only our dark past.

The fundraising was a huge success. All the tickets had been sold, and the ballroom was packed with people. Although most wouldn’t do much, other than spending some money, we met a lot of people interested in helping in more ways than that.

Meeting Ronan and Gabriella had been a real pleasure, and I felt I could entrust her to work closely with the foundation.

“This will work, I’m sure of it,” Gabriella told me, with a brilliant smile.

“I really hope so. We need to reach those women too afraid to leave and show them it’s possible; that we’ll be there to help them all the way until they find the new lives they deserve.”

“Yes… exactly. Though my case was slightly different, I could have used some help while I was running away,” Gabriella agreed.

“That’s why we’ll have information about the foundation, in every homeless shelter, church, and support group in the country. Not to mention all the information we’re planning to display in the most used social media,” I continued.

Gabriella chuckled. “Wow, girl… are you sure all that excitement is good for the baby?” she teased me.

Jayden wrapped his arm around me, smiling. “I’ve been trying to convince her to slow down, but nothing works.”

I patted my round belly. “This one here is a fighter. He can take mom’s excitement, anytime,” I assured them, smiling back.

It was an amazing night, and I had never felt happier in my life. Sometimes, I still find it hard to believe I’m not dreaming, that this is real, but I just needed a look or a caress from Jayden to know it is true.

I had managed to stay, permanently, in paradise.

The end