After Georgiana's graduation, William and Lizzie paid a quick visit to Bing and Jane. The sisters were elated to see each other, and Jane did not let go of Lizzie until she had told her everything about her blossoming relationship with William.

With a frown in her face, Jane also asked the case against Wickham. After her return to Pemberley two months ago, Lizzie and William had been to the courthouse twice. In the last visit, they learnt that there would not be a trial since George had pledged guilty, and that the judge was going to make the final decision. And they were still waiting to hear from her.

When they said goodbye at the airport, Jane hugged her Lizzie and asked to let her know of any developments, and Lizzie promised she would do that. Jane also hugged William, who was taken aback. She thanked him for all the support he had given to her sister.

"And thank you for loving her, I never thought I would see her so happy so soon after what happened," she said.

"Oh, Jane, it's alright. It's my pleasure, believe me," he replied, with a hint of teasing.

Jane smiled, amused and finally let them go. In the short time she had seen them together, she had arrived to the conclusion that her sister had fallen hard and deep for William, and could only wished them the best.

For the first time, after the death of her parents, Georgiana returned to her childhood home to live, and she was excited for a lot of reasons.

In the fall, she was going to start an internship at Pemberley, in the Graphic design department. She wanted to put to good use her degree and start her career. But before that, she had planned to do some traveling with a couple of her college friends during the summer, as well as spend time with William and Kate, especially before her wedding.

Kate was in the process of moving out to the house she and James had bought near her bakery. Despite Gigi's best efforts, she had not been able to convince Kate to have a big, fat wedding. Instead, Kate and James were going to get married in the city hall, and Gigi had to content herself by planning the party afterwards.

Three weeks later, the day of the wedding arrived. After the short but sweet ceremony at the city hall, Kate and James' guests went to the Darcy house for the celebration. Besides her family and friends in San Francisco, Kate and James had invited her sister and his two brothers. Everyone was having fun, and Gigi rejoiced in her success and was already offering her services to organize Brandon and Fitz's marriage, when they would finally decide to do it.

For Lizzie and Darcy, the wedding was a special occasion for them. A lot had changed since the last wedding they had attended, and after the way they had treated each other back then, they were now enjoying the prerogatives of being a couple.

Eventually the party ended, and Kate and James left to enjoy the rest of their wedding day alone, and get ready for her honeymoon in Buenos Aires, courtesy of William and Georgiana.

With Gigi back home with William, Lizzie had not wanted to spend the night at his house. Sure, she had stayed in that house before, but not in the same bedroom as William. When Jane was still dating Bing, Lizzie had had some awkward encounters with him, and she did not want to have those with Gigi, or Kate, before she moved out.

William had respected her decision and for that reason, he stayed at her apartment. Lizzie enjoyed the arrangement but her only regret was not having bought a larger bed, as his feet always dangled off the mattress. However, she always made sure that any discomfort was greatly compensated.

As summer moved along, William and Lizzie had mastered their routine, inside and outside of Pemberley. They still did not want all people in the company to know about their relationship, so they were very careful when they happened to arrive together, in particular when Georgiana had left for her vacation and Lizzie had barely been to her apartment. Before she left, Gigi had let Lizzie know that she would be grateful if her brother did not have to be alone in that big house while she was out of town.

But when the youngest Darcy returned from her trip across several national parks, William found himself again in the small bed of his girlfriend.

One Saturday morning in late July, Lizzie woke up in William's arms in her bed. She smiled, still marveled by the fact that he was hers, and placed a kiss over his heart, before getting up. She picked up her clothes from the floor and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

Lizzie did not want to wake up him yet, as she knew that he (and she) had not gotten much sleep the night before. She got dressed quietly and went to the kitchen. She was working on breakfast when her phone suddenly rang and it made her jump. She quickly reached for it, worried that William might have been woken up by the sound.

"Hello?," she said. In her hurry, she had not checked the ID.

"Good morning, Lizzie," Brandon said on the other line.

"Hi Brandon, how are you?," she replied.

"Fine, thanks. I'm sorry to call this early on a Saturday but I have news about your case."

"Good news?," she said hesitantly.

"Yes," he responded.

"Oh! Mmm… can you give me a second? I'll be right back," she said, thinking that William would want to hear too what Brandon had to say.

As she walked back into the bedroom, she noticed that William was reaching to her side of the bed and he was frowning, probably because he had noted the empty space. She muted the call and sat on the bed.

"William?," she said.

He did not moved for a second, but all of the sudden, he opened his eyes and immediately brought her back to the mattress, next to him.

"William! Wait! No!," she cried.

"What?! why?!'," he said. That definitely was not the "Good morning" he was expecting.

"Brandon is on the phone, he has news about the case. Good news," she sighed.

William woke up completely with her words and sat them both on the bed.

"Really? Let's hear them," he said quickly; they had been waiting long enough.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "Good morning, love."

"Good morning, love," he said back and took her free hand in his.

Lizzie took her phone from the bed and pressed the screen, "Brandon? Sorry about that. I'm back, and William is here with me."

"Great, you save another call. Morning, Darcy," Brandon greeted.

"Hello, Brandon. What news do you have?," William asked.

"I'm in the office, and just found a notification from the judge's office. She has set a date for the sentencing hearing."

"When?," William said.

"Monday," Brandon replied.

"That's… very soon," Lizzie commented.

"Yes, I know. But at last, we are going to know his fate. He's going to jail for sure, the question is how long."

"As long as he pays for what he did...," William sighed.

"Don't worry, he will," Brandon finished.

They made further arrangements to meet at the courthouse and Brandon hung up.

"I am glad that will finally be over," Lizzie murmured, and William put his arms around her.

"Me too. He'll get what he deserves, and at last we can leave that episode in the past," William said.

He could tell that, despite the good news, she was tense, and so he did what he could to make her feel better.

After their late breakfast, Lizzie made a lot of phone calls to her family while William cleaned the kitchen and took a shower.

Lizzie called her sisters, Charlotte, and lastly, her father. Jane lamented that she could not be in person with her, but was thankful that Charlotte and Lydia would be able to make the trip to San Francisco.

She was finishing the call with her father when William stepped out of her bathroom.

"Guess what?," she said as she put out her phone away.

"What?"

"You are going to meet my parents," Lizzie said, not very enthusiastically.

"Are they coming to the hearing?," he asked, and Lizzie just nodded.

"But I thought your mother wasn't aware of the situation."

"She's not, at least not yet. My father knew it was impossible to say that he was coming to San Francisco, without her tagging along. She really wants to see you," Lizzie emphasized.

"I did not want to tell her at first, because I knew she would get extremely upset. But now… I think it's time she knows," she added.

"If you think that, I'll support you, and I'll meet them gladly."

"Thank you, William. I love you," she said, and hugged him.

"I love you too," he responded and kissed her, very softly and tenderly.

"When are they arriving?," he said.

"Tomorrow evening," she sighed.

"Oh, well… Let's enjoy the time that we have alone," he said, and pulled her closer to her. Lizzie smiled at his actions.

"Okay, but don't forget that we are having dinner with Gigi," she noted.

"Don't worry, she won't let us," he answered, and held her face to kiss her again.

Lizzie was at the airport, waiting for her parents. She had talked with William and they had agreed that she would welcome and talk to them first, before they all met. Lizzie had not told William, but one of the reasons for that was that she feared her mother would make a comment about George, William's wealth or something that would make him uncomfortable. And she was not wrong.

"Lizzie, dear, where is your handsome young man?", Fran asked as soon as she saw her daughter.

"Hi Mom, nice to see you too," Lizzie said, "Hello Dad."

Thomas approached his daughter and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Liz," he apologized and she just shook her head.

"I did some research, Lizzie, and your William is quite a catch. You certainly outdid yourself after George."

Lizzie did not want to have that conversation in the middle of the baggage claim, so she kept her mouth close and waited until they arrived to her apartment.

"Well, Lizzie, when are we going to meet your lovely boyfriend?," Fran asked again.

"Mom, we have to talk first," Lizzie said.

"About what, dear?"

"About George," Lizzie replied and prepared herself to tell her mother her truth.

Lizzie went to bed early that day. The talk with her mother had been both emotionally and physically exhausting. There had been yelling, crying, a lot of talking, and finally a lot of hugging.

She had tried to stay calm to recount what George had done to her, but as the memories came back to her, and she started crying. Fran immediately reached for her, and hugged her.

While Lizzie was talking, only exclamations had left her mouth. Fran could not believe that Lizzie had been through hell, and she had not known about it, because her daughter had not trusted her. It was not until that time that she realized it and she felt worst.

When Lizzie finally calmed herself, Fran told her how sorry she felt that she had not been there for her before, but that she was going to make it up to her. She also told her that she was very proud of her and that she loved her immensely.

There were hours until they stopped crying or talking. Her father had also gotten emotional with a weird mixture of anger and joy. The angry part was obvious, but he was joyful that Lizzie had finally spoken up to his wife, and that Fran had realized how her behavior had affected the relationship with her daughter.

They ordered food and had a quiet dinner, before Lizzie excused herself to rest. She called William briefly and told him what had happened.

"So, something good came out that, right?," William asked, wishing he could be with her.

"Yeah, I think so" she replied, "There were so many things that I wanted to tell my mother and I finally did. It was… liberating."

"I'm glad for you," he said, "I don't want to, but I have to let you go. You need to rest."

"Yes, you too. I love so much, William."

"I know, and I love you too, Elizabeth. Good night," he said.

"See you tomorrow. Good night," she finished and felt sleep shortly after that.

When Lizzie arrived to the courthouse with her parents, William was already waiting for them. He hugged Lizzie first and deposited a kiss on her temple.

"Good morning, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bennet. I'm William Darcy," he reintroduced himself before Lizzie could.

Thomas shook his hand, but Fran hugged him.

"Thank you so much for everything you have done for my Lizzie," she said as she squeezed him.

"Mrs. Bennet, you don't have to thank me," William responded gently and did not pull apart until Fran did.

"Of course we have," Thomas said, "William, we'll never be able to repay you for what you've done, but you'll always have our gratitude."

"Thank you, Mr. Bennet," William responded.

"I know you already have my daughter's love, but there is just one thing that I want to ask of you," Thomas added, and William nodded.

"Please, support her always and don't let her down."

"You have my word, Mr. Bennet," William responded, this time looking at Lizzie. She smiled and took his hand.

Her parents and William talked a little more before Samantha, Brandon, Fitz and Georgiana appeared. Lizzie made the necessary introductions and waited for Charlotte and Lydia to arrive. When they finally did, it was time for everyone to step inside the courtroom.

Lizzie and William were exchanging some words with Samantha and Brandon before taking their seats when George was escorted into the room. William's demeanor immediately changed and he put his arms around Lizzie, as to protect her from the other man's eyes. Lizzie did not dare to look at him, but she swore he had growled at William's action.

The judge entered, and Lizzie's heart started pounding. She sat next to William and he took her hand under the table. They both listened to her words, and waited impatiently until she gave the sentence.

George was going to spend the next twenty-five years of his life in prison for extortion and aggravated kidnapping.

Lizzie sighed, and shut her eyes close so the tears would not escape. She could not feel happy; she was just relieved that everything had finished. She felt William's arms wrapping her and she felt better. She allowed him to lead her to the door, and she did not turn back, as George was taken away. Once and for all, she was leaving George Wickham in her past.