Page 107 of The Billionaire's Paradise

And mine was just beginning.

CHAPTER 36

“I miss her already,”Cal said softly.

The sun was melting into the horizon, slow and amber. The kind of light that made the world feel wrapped in honey.

We sat on the beach, just the three of us, Cal’s toes and mine buried in the warm sand, Pualani’s toes snug inside her blanket. Cal was holding her in his arms, her breath rising and falling like a lullaby.

“She’ll come back,” I said. “When we least expect it. Probably with a new clipboard under one arm while questioning our ability to help Pualani with her homework.”

Cal smiled, eyes still on the baby. “I hope so.”

A breeze moved through the palms behind us. The waves slid gently up the shore. And for the first time in what felt like forever… we didn’t have to be anywhere else.

No meetings.

No plans.

No worry.

Just this.

Just us.

“She’s perfect,” Cal murmured, brushing his finger across Pualani’s cheek. “How is she real?”

“I think we wished hard enough,” I said.

And maybe we had.

Wished.

Waited.

Wanted it so badly it finally happened.

I leaned against his shoulder, watching the last light spill across the water, and realized I wasn’t waiting anymore.

Not for the next thing.

Not for the other shoe to drop.

Not for proof of anything at all.

This was it.

The life I thought I’d never deserve.

The home I never saw coming.

The family I didn’t know I needed until they wrapped their arms around me and refused to let go.

Cal kissed the top of my head.

Pualani stirred in his arms.

The tide rolled in, quiet and endless.

And I whispered—so only they could hear—

“This is paradise.”