“This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Annabelle whispered, staring out at the Seine, her little hand in mine. The diamond on her ring finger sparkled in the glow of the lights of Paris.
Mine.
She was mine, and would be forevermore.
Her mother had been released from the hospital a week prior, into the care of a full-time aide. She had a full suite in an attached apartment near my home. Annabelle would visit her as often as she liked. Her mother didn’t like me at first, until I showed her her new home.
“You did this for me?” she asked.
“He did, because he cares about you, mom,” Annabelle said. “Remember that what Gavin said about him was false. He loves me. We are going to get married.”
And somehow then, it all clicked, and her mom had one of those rare moments of clarity.
“Oh, very good then,” she said. “I do think it good you married into wealth. You know I don’t have two pennies to pinch together.”
We laughed at that, all of it, even Melody.
Annabelle took the money I’d insisted on giving her, the full payout I’d promised in our original agreement, and sent her sister on a European cruise. She’d meet us in Paris the following week, but until then, our time was our own. Annabelle no longer needed the money. She was mine now, my wife, and everything I owned was hers.
Gavin lost his job as reporter for the Tribune, and moved out west. Last we heard, he’d married the daughter of a wealthy Texas tycoon, and swore off the reporting industry. He now took small commercial acting jobs on the side, and managed his wife’s money as a profession.
We kept our home on the cliffs, but hadn’t yet come to a decision as to where we’d spend most of our time.
“Where should we stay?” I asked Annabelle, as she looked out at the Seine, sipping her glass of wine. She squeezed my hand in hers.
“Doesn’t matter to me, really,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t mind where I am. I love all these places, because you are with me.”
“I love you,” I responded, bringing her fingers to my lips and kissing them.
She laid her head on my chest and squeezed. “And they both lived happily ever after.”
A note from the author
Thank you for reading Beauty’s Daddy: A Beauty and the Beast Adult Fairy Tale.
Do you want to read a free, bonus epilogue about Sawyer and Annabelle? Sign up for my newsletter HERE!
Thank you!
Jane